Breakout
by Karukyuu
Summary: After being momentarily stopped during his invasion of Impel Down, Luffy wakes up one hour earlier. Not only does this spell the worst trouble Impel Down has ever seen, but also bestows the Marines with a most unwanted surprise.
1. Chapter 1

So this is the first One Piece story, I ever considered writing and publishing.

First of all some **WARNINGS** :

 **1)** This is the first chapter of the story, as such this is also the chapter that will follow the manga most closely (I get annoyed with stories that only add some of their own twists but basically tell what you have seen/read already anyway.

 **2)** I gloss over most of the battle scenes. While writing this I realized just how much I suck at writing battle scenes, not to mention that I think it's boring reading about those anyway... sorry!

 **3!)** If I write any romance at all, it will be boys love, though I will hardly ever put it as focus, if I should ever feel like writing smut for real I shall write it as a side story.

 **Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Oda, I just came up with the ideas for this story. I also avoid using original charas, so I can't even claim them.**

* * *

 **Breakout**

It was a very sunny and bright morning in the New World. The sound of seagulls carried over the ocean as they flew in search of food. Even this early in the morning the temperature was rather high and the sun shone down harshly upon the deck of the Moby Dick. The bright and peaceful atmosphere stood in stark contrast to the tense atmosphere on board the big ship.

The time had finally come to head back to Paradise, their brother was waiting for them, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. All the female crew members had left the ship, Whitebeard would never allow for the women on his ship to fight. All those left were people willing to die in order to get their missing commander back.

"Four battleships are heading this way!" One of the guys on the outlook informed them.

"Seems like they are trying to intercept us before we even leave." Marco landed before their captain.

"If that was the case, why would they only send four battleships? And why now?" Whitebeard pondered. "I doubt they have any personal to spare at this time."

"Oyaji! There are two more ships and from the looks of it they are members of G-5!" Another one called out. "And Kaido's fleet is coming towards us."

"He's trying to start a fight now of all times! It's unfortunate we don't have time to teach that idiot some manners. We leave!" Whitebeard ordered and the crew began the sinking process at once, letting the air out of the floating bag.

"Oyaji, the Marines just sunk one of Kaido's ships. And The Red Force appeared and intercepted Kaido!" Yet another crewmember shouted just before they vanished in the ocean.

"That brat… it seems like we owe him one for this." Whitebeard said grudgingly. "Still, things seem to be very much chaotic. The Marine movement doesn't seem to be very well planned, though they had some capable people on board apparently"

...

Soon after they began to sink their coated fleet a call from McGuy, one of their allies, reached their ship. "Oyaji!" He yelled "Oyaji! The ship that was supposed to deliver Ace hasn't arrived at Marineford yet and that everything is in chaos! My lookouts on Sabaody said the Marines on Sabaody are going crazy over there!"

"You're near Marineford already? Ace is missing?" Atmos asked.

"We're close enough, have been since dawn. And we haven't seen a single ship that came through the gate! Much less the convoy we expected to carry Ace. We don't know what's going on! Reforte sent some guys to see if they can find out anything. The Marines sent three vice admirals!" McGuy reported breathless.

"Tell him to be careful and to keep their distance from Marineford still." Whitebeard told him. "This may well be a trap and we don't want to lose any of our allies! Call again if you receive any news."

"Oyaji… do you really think that this is a trap?" Marco asked doubtful. "McGuy would have noticed if more was amiss."

"There is definitely a trap waiting for us, Sengoku isn't stupid. However, I'm not sure he planned what is happening at the moment. Not delivering Ace would be a heavy blow to the Marines so I doubt they'd lose him. Still this changes things. If our allies find out anything, they'll call. Kingdew, keep an eye on the Den Den Mushi!" Whitebeard ordered his family.

"Maybe Ace escaped." Haruta said hopeful.

"That's hardly possible. They're watching Ace specifically!" Vista was dubious.

"Talking about that now is useless. Stay focused!" Marco interrupted. Not knowing what was going on put a strain on the whole crew. It could be dangerous to get their hopes up just yet.

...

 **A few hours earlier at Impel Down**

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeee!" came the loud yell of a red and yellow blur, which suddenly halted in front of the cell said Whitebeard commander was in.

"LUFFY!" Ace shouted desperately. "Why the hell are you here?"

"Iva-chan, Inazuma!" Luffy ignored Ace to wave towards two more people behind him. "Ace is here, get him out quickly!"

Two men appeared behind him, one throwing attacks at other loud prisoners while the other's hands turned into scissors and opened the door.

"LUF-" Ace was cut off from shouting angrily at his younger brother again the moment he was freed of his shackles. Said boy launched himself at him and hugged (or bound) Ace by encircling him with both arms and legs several times, and burst into tear.

"Bey sad yud dieeeee!" Luffy cried loudly.

Jinbe could only stare at the display with wide eyes. Not only had the young captain managed a feat thought impossible while apparently gaining notorious allies on the way, but now said man was crying his eyes out while ignoring his brother's angry shouts, which Jinbe knew were more shouts of worry instead of anything else.

He hadn't believed Hancock, who most likely was another ally of Straw Hat (there was no other way the man-hating woman would ever have come here to deliver a message otherwise). Her coming here should have been the first warning. The second one came from Ace when he told Jinbe about how crazy Straw Hat Luffy could be, and how much of a crybaby at that. No wonder the poor guy had been so worried!

"YOU IDIOT! WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME HERE? I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR HELP" Ace shouted when Luffy released him.

"You didn't have to! I'm your brother! You gave me your Vivre Card and it's burning!" At this this the teen teared up again. "You promised to live! Ace is my most important person! Don't dieeeee!"

Ace was torn between hugging his little brother and hitting him on the head and grit his teeth. "I'm not dead!"

Ivankov gave them a minute to collect themselves and meanwhile had started to take out some of the more annoying prisoners of level 6.

"You should hurry." An unexpected female voice interfered. Jinbe eyed her with some confusion. Weren't all the guards male down here? Well aside from the two higher ranked ones. "They're keeping close watch on Ace and will soon notice that the surveillance Den Den Mushis aren't sending any pictures anymore. His escort will also arrive soon enough."

"The others should have bought us a bit time, but you are still right." Ivankov reminded them. "I'm sorry to cut this short, Straw Hat-boy, but we better get back to all the others.

"Should we release the prisoners here too then?" Luffy asked.

"NO" Ace shouted at the same time as Inazuma started to explain. "There are some people here who would cause all sorts of problems for the civilians. Iva-sama told you about them before."

"Ah right. The guard guy. He's on Magellan's side, isn't he?" Luffy turned towards the newly turned woman guard. "So where is he?"

"You mean Head Jailer Shiliew?" She guided them towards the Head Jailor, who was right away hit by a Death Wink as well as a Gomu Gomu no Pistol and rendered unconscious.

"That should take care of him until ve are at save distance. He might have indeed gotten released, the Marines will do anything to deliver Ace after all."

Before any of the others could say something else, two loud thunks could be heard.

"They must have noticed that their surveillance system isn't working down here anymore!" Inazuma said, while looking at the now blocked pathway.

"They're not taking any chances with Ace having to be delivered at 9 o'clock. Get away from the stairways. Sleeping gas should be coming through any second now!" Their female guard warned them just in time.

As quick as possible Inazuma cut the ground and blocked the gas from the stairways, but also their exit along with it.

"Why did you do that? How is Ace supposed to escape now?!" Luffy yelled.

"Worry about yourself first!" Ace hit his little brother who laughed it off. Why the hell was his brother here? If Luffy got caught…

"Free me." Jinbe suddenly made himself known. "I want to help you."

"Are you strong?" Luffy asked curiously.

"He is, he's one of the Shichibukai. Ve'd profit greatly from his strength." Ivankov said shocked at seeing one of the Marine's elites here.

"Ah right, sorry Jinbe! Are you sure? You will probably be released you in a bit anyway. You are a Shichibukai after all." Ace turned towards his momentarily forgotten friend.

"I won't be one for much longer. I was imprisoned here because I was against the war the Marines are starting with Whitebeard. I want to help him so please let me join you." The fishman explained and was soon freed. Still they had no idea of how to get out of the place.

"Kuhahahaha" a deep throaty laugh came from a cell behind them. "If you free me, I can easily get us out of here. I still have a bone to pick with Whitebeard. We could both help each other escape from here."

"I won't let you lay a hand on Oyaji!" Ace erupted in flames while Luffy yelled at Vivi's tormentor.

"Oh Croco-boy. This is actually not such a bad idea. Inazuma, free him." Ivankov ordered as he stepped before Crocodile's prison. "Ve need his help to get out of here. Don't worry, I know some of his weaknesses, so I can keep him in check." Ace grit his teeth, but didn't say anything more.

"Are all of us devil fruit users?" Luffy asked. "Those seastone handcuffs would be nice against Magellan."

"Since when do you plan like this?" Ace questioned almost shocked.

"His poison hurts like hell!" Luffy exclaimed making Ace grit his teeth once again, he would not ask how it happened… not right now. His brother was standing beside him, alive. And he'd do everything in his power to keep it this way.

...

"Is eating really what you guys should be doing now?" One of the resident Okama's of New Kama Land questioned completely astonished. Instead of hurrying, like they had assumed they would, both Ace and Jinbe had requested something to eat, with Luffy joining them, despite all he had eaten not two hours earlier. Crocodile meanwhile got one of the inhabitants to clean his shoes for him, while he waited for them to move along.

"Domt woy" Luffy got out in between bites.

"There is not much difference between going right now and in a little while." Jinbe told them and the others agreed.

"The convoy which should deliver Ace is certainly already here, so it makes no difference. From the moment they noticed the missing signal from the Den Den Mushi they must have assumed the worst. Instead of rushing, we have to see to it that we are as well prepared as we can." Inazuma explained and handed out prison keys.

"Release as many prisoners as you can. Ve need as many as possible to fight vith us and distract our foes! If you see someone vith a Den Den Mushi, take care of that one, let's cut of their communications! On top of that ve vill have to steal one of the Navy ships! Get ready! Heehaw!" Ivankov shouted his orders.

"Yaaay" Everyone agreed and so, with some considerable lateness they all got ready to escape their home for the past few years.

...

The way up was an absolute mess, the likes that Impel Down had never seen before. All had gone well with only two minor delays at the end of level 4 when they had been intercepted by Sadi and Hannyabal. Ace and Luffy took care of the vice warden while Ivankov beat the chief guard without any major problems.

That was when they came face to face with Blackbeard.

"Zehahaha" The blackhaired captain laughed. "When I came here today I didn't expect this. No wonder everyone was on high alert with even the vice admirals inside of Impel Down. You gave us quite some trouble."

"Blackbeard!" Ace didn't waste any second and charged, landing hit on his already bloodied face. The other captain reacted just as fast and activated his powers. "Do you want a repeat of what happened before?" He grinned at the escaped convict.

"ACE!" Luffy yelled and hit Blackbeard, freeing his brother. "What the hell! Stay away from my brother."

"Zehahaha… So this is the reason for your escape, Ace. I suppose it's only fair he came here, after all, he is the reason you are in here in first place." The other man told, while grabbing Luffy with Vortex and slamming him to the ground.

"LUFFY!" Ace attacked the other with fire. "Your power may cancel other devil fruits, but unlike other logia users, your body isn't made of darkness. I will not let you lay a hand on my brother. We will win."

Though Jinbe tried to stop their fight, he and Inazuma were intercepted by the rest of the Blackbeard pirates. Their fighting came to an abrupt end however when Magellan drenched the prisoners behind them with one of his Hydra heads, while another was coming towards the fighting trio fast.

"Straw Hat!" Ivankov shouted the warning and flew into the fighting trio, grabbing on to the small captain. "Magellan is here, run!"

"But Ace!" Luffy eyed his hotheaded older brother.

"Run Luffy! I will take care of things here!" Ace shouted. He wouldn't rest until Blackbeard was five feet under.

"No way! If Ace stays then I will too!" Luffy turned and landed another hit on Blackbeard who returned the favor right away.

"Jinbe, grab Luffy! Let's run!" The okama queen shouted while he himself grabbed Ace.

"WHAT THE HELL! LET ME GO!" Ace roared in anger. "HE'S-"

"Magellan is here!" Ivankov hissed. "If you stay, then so will your brother and if he is covered by poison again he will die for real this time!"

"Luffy…?" Ace's eyes widened.

"He already lost ten years of his life so he could go and save you! Do you want to risk both of your lives to kill Blackbeard?" This shut Ace up for good. He stopped his struggling at once and he started to run along them.

Not a second later another hydra head had covered the area Ace had stood in just a moment before.

"So you managed to get down here after all. Which means that you broke down my barrier and that the vice admirals…" Magellan trailed of.

"Are you Magellan?" Blackbeard grinned at his newest foe.

"And you are Blackbeard." The warden stated before attacking with a single giant hydra and flooded the entire bridge towards the entrance to level 2.

...

The secret hope Ivankov had held, that Magellan would be defeated by Blackbeard, who for some unknown reason had also broken in to Impel Down was swiftly destroyed when only a few minutes later, on their way through level two (which was strangely enough also lacking a lot of prisoners from what Luffy had seen last) another hydra appeared right behind them and the chief warden came swimming towards them.

"I will not let any of you escape here! Fire Fist Ace, Straw Hat Luffy! Justice will win!" Magellan headed towards them and was faced by Inazuma and Ivankov.

"I've had enough of you!" Ace whispered furiously. "You almost killed Luffy!" Flames erupted from his palm and formed an ever growing ball that soon was taking up a major portion of the room they were in. Ace ran a few steps towards Magellan before it came into contact with his hydra. The hydra splashed to all sides and caught fire which went back to Magellan. Charging further he used his namesake attack and burned the poison man.

"Hurry!" Crocodile eyed him. "Your execution should be in a few hours and if you are not delivered I'm sure Sengoku will not waste time to send someone else."

The rest of the way up was less of a problem, as apparently the Blackbeard Pirates had taken out Ace's supposed convoy, and the five vice-admirals. "Ah! That's the guy that came when we were at Enies Lobby!" Luffy shouted and pointed to one of the vice admirals.

"Enies Lobby…?" Ace wondered.

"Ah. We went there to help Robin." Luffy explained and Ace decided it was probably healthier for him to not know about it… right at this moment at least.

"You and I are going to talk once this is over." He sighed instead. The last news he'd heard about Luffy was from Blackbeard and he had been in Water 7 then and not on a Marine base known for 'Justice'.

"Shishishi" Luffy nodded then beamed. "Look Ace! Your paper is big again!"

Ace couldn't help but smile, even though he felt more than just guilty for worrying his little brother and getting him into such a situation. "Ah, let's get out and keep it that way! I'll have one made for you later on too…"

Luffy just laughed in response, more cheerful than he had in days.

...

A minor problem came when not a single battleship, which they wanted to hijack, was still docked, but with Jinbe's help they soon enough had one. The Gate of Justice also opened at the very right time, though Luffy almost made everyone turn back since the one responsible for the opening of the gates was his okama friend, Bentham.

Once again they had Jinbe to thank for convincing the young captain to stay on course. His friend would be transported to freedom by one of Jinbe's shark friends.

"WATCH OUT!" Daz Bones suddenly shouted and pushed some escapees away just before a beam shot a whole into the ship where they had been standing just seconds before.

Three battleships were waiting just outside the gate along with two more vice admiral as well as admiral Kizaru.

"Phew… looks like I can deliver both of my targets after all." Kizaru commented when he saw Luffy as well as Ace.

"We're not going back!" The escapes shouted, though Buggy and Galdino tried to hide themselves.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy tried to attack the admiral to no avail.

"Let the Logia users deal with him and let's focus on destroying their ships!" Inazuma called out, his hands turning into scissors as he jumped to the right ship alongside Ivnankov and their New Kama Land comrades.

With a nod to Ace Luffy lead most of the other ex-prisoners to the third ship, battling through the grunts and facing one of the vice admirals, Strawberry.

"Gomu Gomu no Giganto Pistol!" The attack landed with a satisfying crunch on the vice admiral who had a hard time getting to his feet again on the now partially destroyed battleship.

The other ships were faring no better. Aside from Kizaru, who was kept busy by Ace and Crocodile, the fights were in favor of the prisoners, who were dead set on never returning to the prison. The Marines had probably guessed that there were problems with Ace, but not the magnitude of them or they would have sent more than one admiral.

The first ship fell when Stainless abandoned it with his and joined to help Kizaru, though he was easily stopped by the ex-Shichibukai. "Stay out of this, Stainless."

Despite being overpowered by him he still grinned as his hand connected with Crocodiles solid arm and put a seastone handcuff around it. "You wish!"

"Shoot him!" He ordered his subordinates. Only Ace needed to be delivered alive, all the others could be done with now.

Momentarily distracted Ace was also caught in seastone handcuffs by Kizaru. The admiral had taken a big gamble in handling them himself, but he had won this round.

"AAAAACE!" Luffy rocketed back to their own ship and took a beam meant to incapacitate Ace.

Two more Marines quickly grabbed Ace when the younger boy exploded and released a wave of Haki. "LET GO OF ACE!"

Most of the Marines fell unconscious all of a sudden and those who didn't remained momentarily stunned as Luffy raced towards his brother, and pulled him towards the still hiding Mr. 3.

The next moment a water fountain hit Kizaru dead on and gave Ivankov a chance to hit him with his Death Wink.

With some difficulty Kizaru managed to avoid the next fountain, but Jinbe jumped onboard and managed to capture the admiral with their stolen seastone handcuffs as well.

"Thanks for reminding me." He said and pushed him overboard.

"ADMIRAL" Strawberry jumped into the water to save him, while his own battleship fell towards the vicious attack of the pirates.

Meanwhile Mr. 3 freed both Crocodile and Ace.

"You idiot!" Ace glared at his brother who was bleeding from the wound he had gotten thanks to Kizaru.

"You are one too. Getting caught by the beam guy!" Luffy glared right back.

"Not the time!" Buggy panicked. "Let's escape! Hurry! I'm sure another one already called for help!"

With a combined attack the last battleship was smashed to pieces.

"I can't believe we made it!" Mr. 3 breathed out and sat down on the desk besides Buggy.

"I always knew we would!" His comrade nodded gaining stares of admiration from his followers.

"Luffy-kun, let me bandage your wound." Jinbe held up some bandages he had found on the battleship. "You should rest, that wound looks nasty."

"I will, the moment that we are free and back on the sunny."

"Since when can you use Haki?" Ace questioned and took the bandages from Jinbe.

"Haki?" Luffy looked confused.

"Never mind then." Ace sighed and threw a worried look at his little brother. He seemed fine so far, so a sheen of sweat covered his face and the wound was still bleeding.

...

Meanwhile the Whitebeard Pirates had just passed Fishman Island when another call reached their ship.

"OYAJI!" Kingdew yelled "It's Delacuaji!"

"Kingdew? A battleship just came through the Gates of Justice! THEY HAVE ACE! Well, not the Marines! There isn't a single Marine on the ship!" Delacuaji laughed from excitement. "Jinbe is steering them into the direction of Sabaody! And Ivankov the Revolutionary as well as Straw Hat Luffy is with them!"

"ACE IS FREE?" Many shouted.

"As far as we can tell!" came the cheerful reply. "Though all of them look like they could do with some rest! A fog screen was set, so the Marines won't discover him right away. I and some of the others want to follow, that ok?"

"Of course. Marco, set the course for Sabaody, but take care that our ship stays coated when we emerge, we need to be prepared for any event. Kingdew, tell one of our ships to follow us while the other stays on course but won't emerge." Whitebeard ordered. "Don't hope too much yet until we can confirm things with our own eyes."

...

* * *

So, is this story worth continuing? I'd have quite a few things planned things (meeting with Rayleigh, Whitebeard, of course the other Straw Hats and so on...)

Is it too drawn out? Too short? Let me know what you think, also let me know if you find any mistakes. Sorry for my inability to write great battle scenes (stuff always looks so much better in my head than on paper in words...)

 **Please leave a message and tell me what you think about this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Again some warnings (skip to the line, if you don't wish to see my notes!):**

1) This chapter contains no fighting (I will also try to avoid it in the future whenever possible)

2) The pacing has (in my eyes) slowed down considerably. This chapter focuses solely on Sabaody and how the characters interact with each other. Sorry if you think it's too dragged out.

3) Same as before: If there should be any romance it will be boys love. (No, **Ace and Luffy will NOT be together** , even if they hug each other! It's bromance!)

...

 **Thank you to all my reviewers!** I didn't think so many people would take the time to reply and encourage me. I probably wouldn't have written more nearly as fast, if it weren't for all of your replies.

So a huge thank you to: **Jennifer Wilson, OnePieceeFan** , **weeaboolover,** **StarliteOracle** , **ceciimanassero4,** **Mariachanne,** **lostdog200,** **Guest** , **Jisca,** **Ginshi-chan,** **TheSuperMario** , **Darth Zanitos** , **Mr. Soze** , **coolgamer,** **OctaveTea,** **DMCP,** **The Amol**

 **Thank you also to all the people who favorited this story and who decided to follow it! Hope I won't disappoint you!**

 **Disclaimer: One Piece and all characters (so far, I doubt I will add any) belong to Oda! I just came up with this plot!**

 **...**

* * *

...

Breakout – Chapter 2 (Sabaody and meeting Rayleigh)

With the Vivre Card Luffy had insisted Jinbe should follow, the escapees arrived at Sabaody in good time. Ivankov and Inazuma had decided to stay on the ship, in case something would happen on the Island and they'd have to run away again. The other reason they stayed was that none of the smarter ex-prisoners trusted Buggy and his followers to stay in sight of Sabaody and not take their ship and leave.

Their best option for the moment was to see if Rayleigh had still coated the Straw Hat's ship, so they could escape to the New World and hopefully meet up with Whitebeard before the old man engaged in battle with the Marines.

Luffy also hoped to meet up with his crew, he was already late, so the others might have gotten back to Sabaody already. He was worried about Zoro. The swordsman was in bad health even before the fight with Kuma, so hopefully he would be back save and sound.

Only a small group would actually leave the ship. They were covered with hoods, so they couldn't be recognized as easily. The only ones who'd make the trip were Luffy, who was already telling Ace about Shakky's bar on grove 13 and how her fridge had been filled with food, Ace, who had gotten hungry from Luffy's talking, Jinbe, Crocodile and Daz Bones.

With those plans made they left in good confidence, only to come face to face with one major factor they hadn't taken into account (in their defense, aside from Ace none of them could have known yet… not really). The moment the ship had docked Luffy, impatient as always, rocketed away, following the direction of the paper.

"LUFFY!" came Ace's angry shout the moment he had realized his younger brother had left before he too took off after his brother. With a deep sigh at their irresponsible behavior Jinbe also followed swiftly and beckoned the last two of their group to join them as well.

They weren't surprised to see a small group of Marines lying unconscious on their way, neither were they surprised by the sight of some bounty hunters. More surprising was the fact that there weren't more beaten bodies lying around.

"RAYLEIGH!" Luffy yelled when Shakky's bar came into sight. The Vivre Card had indeed lead him to the bar and he laughed with joy as he ran through the door.

"Luffy!" exclaimed Shakky completely surprised. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again this soon when Kuma told us about what happened."

"Rayleigh, Shakky!" he cheered before proceeding to ask about his crew.

"N-"

"Luffy!" Ace yelled again as he finally caught up with his brother and hit him on his head. "You idiot! Your wound hasn't healed yet, stop running around!"

Rayleigh's expression at once turned serious as he took in the two brothers who were joined by Jinbe as well as Crocodile and someone neither of the two recognized (though they were sure they'd seen him on some wanted posters before) a moment later.

"So this is what happened." Rayleigh muttered more to himself than anyone else. "It appears that you're in even more trouble than the last time I saw you. And you're quite heavily wounded."

"Doesn't matter! Ace is my brother! They wanted to kill him!" was all the explanation he gave, and it really was all that needed to be said too. The boy truly resembled Rayleigh's old captain a lot.

"Ah, by the way, this is Ace!" Luffy, rather unnecessarily introduced his now silent brother. "And Ace, this old man is Rayleigh! Ah… and I forgot Jinbe and Crocodile… and…" Luffy's brows wrinkled before he shrugged and turned towards the fridge.

"Rayleigh… Silvers Rayleigh?" Ace turned towards the right hand man of his father in shock, cursing himself for not realizing it sooner. How many Rayleighs were there on the Grand Line anyway?! Their other companions fared no better, so he felt a bit better about that.

"He helped us before and promised to coat the Sunny for us!" Luffy beamed while grabbing some meat and even handing some food to Ace, which proved just how badly Ace's imprisonment and death sentence hurt the younger brother.

Jinbe coughed to get their attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we really need to get going soon."

"Indeed. I'm sure you have already guessed what is going on." commented Crocodile, who had listened with interest, and turned to Rayleigh.

"Ah. This reminds me…" Rayleigh turned back to Luffy. "I had hoped to meet up with you again soon as I have a suggestion concerning you and your crew, but now is hardly the time to talk. I did coat your ship just in case anyone returned and had to get away from here. Your run in with the Tenryubito has caused quite some problems after all. The only reason none of the Marines have been actively searching for you guys was the upcoming execution of Portgas D Ace. Now that you have obviously freed him, the Marines will send their best after your head. As a matter of fact, it's a wonder none of them are here yet."

"What happened?" Ace demanded, not able to hold back all his questions any longer and forgetting all about the food.

"Now is not the time for that." Shakky reminded them. "Your execution should be in less than three hours and no matter what you did, I am sure they already know that you escaped and are together with Monkey-chan, another notorious pirates that the Marines would love to be rid of."

Ace's expression turned grim as he reluctantly agreed. "Fine… but you will tell me and answer my questions!"

Rayleigh nodded. Portgas D Ace might be known for being a hothead, but he was not stupid and he clearly had his priorities set.

"We should go to the Sunny and meet up with my crew." Luffy said cheerfully.

"You're the only one here right now." Rayleigh informed him and caused Luffy's expression to fall. "Kuma sent all of you to different places so that you could escape. Everyone should be somewhere, where they need to be right now."

"What? This Kuma guy wanted to help us?" Luffy asked unbelieving.

"He let you escape alive. And it was thanks to that, that you managed to meet up with your brother, was it not?" He let Luffy think about it until the teen nodded.

"Anyway, as I said, I still have a plan, but right now we need to leave Sabaody before the Marines appear here again. You're in no condition to fight." Rayleigh stated with finality before Luffy or any of the others (mainly Ace) could claim otherwise.

"You're going then." Shakky asked Rayleigh who nodded, while Luffy waved at her. "I'll see you later then, Monkey-chan."

"Later? Ah! I want to see you again too. I'll come back soon to pick up my crew!" he beamed at her.

…

While Rayleigh led them towards the Thousand Sunny, Jinbe called Ivankov to let him know that they had a fully coated ship and would proceed to the New World with it. Buggy had apparently run after them while his followers hijacked another ship in the tourist area. For some weird reason there were almost no people around the various groves so it had been easily planned and done.

They agreed to meet up, as they had planned before.

"Rayleigh, would you mind telling me why there are hardly any people around?" Jinbe asked once he hung up.

Rayleigh chuckled. "Of course… They set up big screens on Sabaody to show Ace's execution to the world and prove to everyone how mighty the Marine is." He took a sip of Sake from his bottle. "This will be a big hit to their pride, honor and credibility… if Ace manages to return to Whitebeard."

"I will return!" Ace stated.

"Of course you will." Luffy grinned and Rayleigh laughed.

"I was there as well until an hour ago or so. The broadcast started for a bit at 10:30 but stopped due to 'some difficulties with the Den Den Mushi' shortly after. While it was pretty clear that something major must not be right for the broadcast to stop, most of the people are still waiting. I left after I found some nice donators and bought some good Sake."

"That makes sense. People are too stupid to realize the truth, even if it laughs them in the face." said Crocodile bored.

"There you guys are! Buggy suddenly yelled from behind them. "I came to inform you that we saw some battleships approach Sabaody from the tourist area! I took the time to warn y-" Buggy trailed off when he noticed their newest addition.

"R-R-R-R-RAYLEIGH!?" He screeched and jumped back in surprise.

"Buggy!" Rayleigh chuckled. "I see you haven't changed much these past few years. So, did you escaped together with Luffy?"

"I… ah… yes, I helped him out." Buggy coughed.

"Buggy helped me find the staircase to level 2 in Impel Down in exchange for my arm band." Luffy told him.

Rayleigh eyed Buggy skeptically, causing him to turn away. "A-Anyway… The marines are coming for Sabaody, so I came here to warn you. The okama's already left with our ship, only Ivankov is still here."

"What about the other prisoners?" Ace questioned with raised eyebrows.

"They wanted to get a ship for us. We'll meet up with my crew in a little while." Buggy told them a lot more modest, now that his old vice-captain was here. His plans of heroically joining up with them in case something went wrong, when the others stole the ship, wasn't looking so well with Rayleigh around. On the other hand, with him here it would be so much more save than anywhere else. Maybe he should stick around for a while.

"In that case you have my thanks. Ivankov didn't say much on the Den Den Mushi." Jinbe said while walking a bit faster.

"Of course not. We are using Marine Den Den Mushi's, they might listen in on us and gather information that way." Crocodile remarked.

"Isn't it grove 19 that the two of you agreed on? We'll be there in a few minutes anyway." Daz Bones added.

"Not bad. We're heading for grove 23. That's where the Straw Hat's ship is." Rayleigh told them while drinking some more.

…

Laying eyes on the Thousand Sunny again Luffy couldn't keep his cheers in. "Sunny!" He yelled happily and then saw some of the fish riders. "Ah, you guys are here too!"

"Oh… you're back. You're the first one! Young master and the others haven't returned yet. But we kept your ship save!" Duval winked and was promptly ignored by Luffy.

"Rayleigh… do you know if we have any food on board." Luffy asked worried.

"I'm not sure… shouldn't you be the one who knows?" Rayleigh wondered.

"Is that really the time to worry about it?" Jinbe asked exasperated.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON!" Buggy screeched.

"Food is important." Ace agreed with his little brothers.

"Have you forgotten how much those two ate in Impel Down?" Crocodile said drily.

"Still…" Daz Bones trailed of.

"Even if ve don't, we'll just go for a Sea King on the way. Heehaw!" Ivankov yelled and Luffy eagerly agreed.

"Straw Hat?!" a voice asked from behind, causing all of them to turn around.

"Oh, the bear!" Luffy beamed. "Do you want to jo-"

"Don't ignore our captain!" The bear yelled, before bowing and apologizing.

"Captain?" Luffy questioned looking around before his eyes landed on Trafalgar Law. "…"

"He was with you at the auction house." Duval, who had heard them from where he was guarding the Sunny, joined them.

"Ah! … And the guy from the auction house! And the Flying Fish guys too!" He smiled and waved.

"How can you be so cheerful and ignore your wound when you should be unconscious…" The surgeon wondered.

"Eh? I don't feel bad. Though this stings." Luffy commented while Ace's head snapped around.

"What do you mean, he should be unconscious?!"

"… Fire Fist Ace" The surgeon of death murmured. "So that's what's going on. What are you doing with Straw Hat and the others here?"

"Don't ignore my question!" Ace exclaimed angrily.

"With this kind of wound do you really need to ask?" The surgeon sighed. "He's bleeding pretty heavily too and none of you thought to put him on bedrest or something?"

"Straw Hat-boy doesn't notice his wounds because of the hormones I injected earlier. They'll run out soon enough however." Ivankov's voice held a lot of regret as he said that.

"Eh? Iva-chan? I feel good! Why would I need bedrest?" Luffy was confused and prodded at his wound, which actually did hurt, quite a lot at that.

"... Are you an idiot?" Law questioned when the other captain screamed.

"How did you know it would hurt?" Luffy asked swatting his brother's hands away.

"… I'm a surgeon, I'd be a rather bad one if I couldn't see that with your minimal bandages that have fresh blood on them." Law explained before he grinned. "Want me to take a look at them?"

"Why would you help him?" Ace asked standing protectively between him and Luffy.

"No real reason." The other replied.

"As nice as it would be, it'd take more time than we have. We're leaving right now. Any more time and all their trouble might have been for naught." Rayleigh informed them.

"What are you doing here?" Luffy asked instead of hurrying up.

"The broadcast was canceled and a Marine Ship approached around an hour ago. It left again already, but a few others are coming closer. We already got into trouble before, I rather not be caught in it again while some of my crew are still recovering." He pointed to their coated submarine that was docked near the Sunny. "We're leaving now."

"And yet you wanted to help us, you're a really nice guy, aren't you." Luffy smiled broadly at him and waved again as they boarded the sunny, leaving a stunned surgeon behind.

"I agree with him, captain is way too nice." Bepo told him and promptly received a glare.

"He's the one you said helped me too, right?" Jean Bart questioned. "In that case I would be glad to help him, too."

"Ah, he's too interesting to die here. He'll surly cause a storm again, if he lives." Law agreed. "And it'll be interesting to see what will happen if Fire Fist truly returns to Whitebeard's ship."

He watched the other's as they released the air bubble of their coated ship. Before the ship sunk however, Straw Hat hugged the clown prisoner and waved towards another ship in the distance before running towards the railing and grabbing on to it while jumping. His arms stretched and they could hear a fearful scream that sounded like 'That's not what I meant.' Before the rubbery captain crashed into the flailing clown and sent him flying (and screaming) towards the other ship while most of the others turned towards the small captain and shouted at him, Fire Fist even hitting his head.

"… If you want to help him, we should better do it soon." Penguin commented, watching the whole scene, not knowing, whether or not he should believe his eyes.

"Who knows, if he doesn't kill himself first." Law deadpanned.

…

After their farewell to Buggy (who had seen his followers in the distance and asked them to bring him there) the fugitives quickly figured out how to steer the Sunny, since the captain apparently didn't know all that much about steering (he did know however how to use their hidden canon, which apparently was inside Sunny's mouth, and how to make the ship fly, something none of the others understood).

The most surprising thing for Rayleigh, who was searching through the sunny to figure out how the other technical aspects worked, was the feeling that the ship was trying to help them. It was a nostalgic feeling that reminded him of his home, the Oro Jackson. Tom's disciples had done a remarkable job when making this ship. It was worthy of housing the small crew of the man whose dream was to become the next pirate king.

He asked Luffy about the barrels and some other stuff and was pleasantly surprised that the boy actually could answer most of his questions.

Finally it was time to set sail and leave Sabaody. "Thanks for the help, Flying Fi-"

"It's Rosy Life Riders!" Duval interrupted with a yell of his own.

"See you soon!" Luffy laughed while being hugged by Ace to keep him from jumping and moving too much.

"Keeping him still seems to be quite the chore." Jinbe pondered as they left and began the sinking process.

"Yes and no… he's constantly moving around, even in his sleep. However if you hug him he'll calm down, unless he's really excited about something." Ace replied.

Luffy grinned. "Ace always complained about that, but then Sabo one night apparently hugged me and I stopped moving. Waking up like that was nice too."

"Sabo?" Ivankov asked as he changed Luffy's bandages once again and cursed under his breath. The wound looked a lot worse and had gotten bigger from all the moving around. If they weren't careful Trafalgar Law's words would turn true and he'd never be able to face Dragon again. He prayed his hormones would soon run out, but he had given him enough to last 24 hours, and it was only shortly after midday.

"Our brother." Ace said quietly. "He died ten years ago, after he was attacked by a Tenryubito." He closed off with those words and carded his hands through Luffy's hair who had turned around and pressed himself against Ace.

"Don't break your promise." Luffy demanded.

"… Sorry… yeah. I won't. But you stay still now and let us handle things, or else you might be the one breaking it."

He didn't say it out loud, but seeing their interaction Jinbe really doubted Ace's words from their time together in Impel Down. Luffy would be anything but fine if something had happened to Ace. It was the devil's luck that had gotten them out of their situation and nothing else.

A few minutes later the rumbling of a stomach could be heard and though everyone turned towards the brothers, it wasn't coming from either. "I could do with some food now." Daz Bones had the decency to blush as everyone turned to him. "Didn't you say something about Sea King?"

Luffy pouted. "I'm not allowed to catch one." "Of course not!" "And also… I came here with my crew, it doesn't feel right seeing this. We traveled together to Skypiea… we also wanted to go to Fishman Island together, so I don't want to see it without them."

"How cute." Crocodile said sarcastically. "Too bad life doesn't work that way. Whether you like it or not, you will see it now."

"That's why I at least don't want to watch until we are there." Luffy didn't rise to his bait. He was much too comfortable sitting on Ace to react to things like this.

"The first time I saw Fishman Island I was together with your father. The fishmen were rather skeptical of us at the beginning but a lot of them became our friends after. Ve also met some friends, who later on joined us. Hack for example." Ivankov told them.

"Hack?" Jinbe smiled. "I've not seen that man in many years. How is he?"

"The last time I saw him he was very vell. He taught our young members fishman karate. Once Straw Hat-boy is better I shall call his father and ask for him."

"A lot has changed since then. There is less hostility towards humans thanks to Whitebeard's protection." Jinbe remembered.

"Ah, I remember when Roger and I came there for the first time ever. There were much less pirates at that time and yet most of them seemed to hate us. The ones who visited often kidnapped both mermaids and fishmen, so it didn't surprise us at all."

"Rayleigh?" Luffy's eyes landed on the Dark King. "Hmm?"

"EH? RAYLEIGH?! Why are you still here?!" Luffy exclaimed causing Ace to facepalm. "He was here the whole time, were you sleeping? He did say goodbye to Shakky."

"I thought that was because he was taking us to the Sunny!"

"… Slow" The rest of them agreed while Rayleigh laughed.

"Now seems to be as good a time as any." Rayleigh said. "I came along because quite frankly speaking none of your crew is ready for the New World yet. Remember what happened on Sabaody before?"

Hearing these words Luffy tensed up as he stared at Roger's first mate, remembering just how badly he had failed his crew.

"Remember fighting just one of the Pacifista's? A lot of people in the New World are a lot stronger. Can you defeat them, as you are now?" Rayleigh held eye contact with the younger captain. He needed to drive this point home.

"But… I…?" Ace's hug tightened around him. "Listen."

"What he says is true, Luffy-kun. Even during our escape we were mostly lucky. If Bentham hadn't opened the gates, if the Marines hadn't mostly focused on Ace, things would have been totally different." Jinbe had to agree with Rayleigh.

"Then what would you have me do?! I'm doing all I can!" Luffy grit out.

"That's why I am here, I have a suggestion for you, though whether or not you accept it, is up to you. Stop here and gather strength. With your involvement in breaking Ace out you and your crew will be targeted by the best. They will not rest, now that they failed to deliver Ace. Get stronger now, before you are in a situation like on Sabaody again."

Luffy swallowed hard covered his face with his straw hat for a moment before staring at him again. "But what about my crew? They will come to Sabaody for sure!"

"They will know where you are at the latest in two days, when the world will find out about how the Marines failed to execute Ace. They will blame it all on you for sure. With a bit of luck all of them will try to call your ship. And even if they don't, I have another idea. Though that idea will have to wait until your wound is better. Also if it has to come to it I will need Ace's help at the very least." He turned to Ace, who agreed at once even without knowing what Rayleigh had in mind.

"You will help my brother train, right?" He demanded.

"Of course." Rayleigh smiled easily enough.

"Then you should know that he unlocked Haoshoku Haki. He used it while we escaped." Ace said, not sure whether or not he liked the idea of Luffy training with Rayleigh. Oyaji could have done it just as well…

"Alright, if you say I can protect them this way, I'll do it. I don't want to lose anyone ever again." Luffy made his decision.

…

* * *

...

So that's it for now. Sorry for not getting to Whitebeard yet. I tried to pace myself better and not put in too much again (since the first chapter was a lot of fighting and copying from Oda I glossed over a lot of stuff and packed in a LOT).

I'm still trying things and I will probably write certain parts in certain character's POVs in the future, this will probably help pacing too.

I like seeing characters interact, so there'll be a lot of that in the future too.

Is this too drawn out?

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks once again to all who reviewed before!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** I don't think Surume was around when the WBP came through Fishman Island, thus Surume won't appear any time soon.

 **Again, skip to the line if you are not interested in my replies and warnings!**

1) I apologize for any mistakes, I'm too tired to read through everything on my own yet again :(

2) Chapter starts where the old one left of and finally old man **Whitebeard will appear**. Still there is much left to do and to answer.

3) As always: **if there is romance it will be boys love** (though not as the focus of this story – most likely an unusual pairing, should I include anything…)

 **Thank you very much for all the reviews!** I thought I wouldn't continue writing anytime soon, but I started right again the next day, to not make you wait for too long (I know I hate waiting for updates!)

Thank you to: **Mr. Soze** , **dancingjadedragon** , **Lightningblade49** , **Mariachanne** , **iitrnr, adellealyla** , **NeoZero13** , **Guest, Thea, Jag, AnimagiPotter** , **mysteryreader6626** , **OnePieceeFan,** **Bluejay Blaze, Johnny Spectre** , **Rin-s666,** **Ginshi-chan,** **DMCP,** **OctaveTea,** **Nala1220,** **coolgamer**

...

* * *

...

"Ship approaching!" The lookout of the Whitebeard Pirates was on high alert and had seen the ship long before anyone else actually saw anything.

"Sink it." Whitebeard ordered calmly. There'd been more than just one crew today who had tried to quickly challenge or stall them and they were all in a rather bad mood due to it. Whitebeard had told his crew to stay focused. With the uncertainty of Ace's whereabouts and the behavior of the Marines they couldn't afford any careless mistakes. That'd be just what Sengoku would want them to do in case of a trap after all.

About ten minutes later the next message came. "So far I don't see any canons or other weapons. I also don't recognize the ship." There were murmurs of agreement as more than one person was watching the ship above them now. "However it's sinking very fast. Almost as if a veteran was steering it. There's one more behind it and it's quite a bit slower."

"They're heading towards the Downward Plume!" another one called.

"Then ignore it." Marco rubbed his eyes.

"Wait… it's turning around!"

"Sink it after all, it is!" Marco sighed as the men prepared for yet another useless battle.

….

"Jinbe!" Luffy called out to the man at the steering wheel. "What kind of food do you like best? Do you still eat fish even though you're a fishman? What about sharks?"

"…" Jinbe eyed him warily. What was this sudden question about? Was the Straw Hat captain suggesting that fishman were only fish? He hadn't felt any hostility from the ship's captain until now, but he could have been wrong. He'd even understand it, with the history between the Straw Hat crew and the Arlong Pirates.

"Do you?" Luffy blinked.

"The sharks are my friends, so no, I don't eat them, nor will I allow my friends to eat them." He answered with some hesitation.

"Too bad, they looked tasty too. But you don't mind Sea King, do you? That's Zoro's favorite! And Sanji said we weren't allowed to eat those small fish before even though we still ate Takoyaki later." Luffy went on and Jinbe threw a questioning gaze to his friend who kept the little captain calm as well as he could, now that he had started moving more and more as he was talking. He was relieved to see that Ace didn't seem to have understood much more than him, aside from the fact that the other was talking about food.

"I don't know about small fish, or Takoyaki, but as long as you don't eat my friends I don't mind." Jinbe felt relieved as the other apparently wasn't thinking anything nasty about his race. He still felt as if he was missing quite a lot, but that was probably something that couldn't be helped when it came to Luffy and food, judging by Ace's reaction.

Luffy nodded and grinned "Great, then there is no problem. Though all that talking about meat made me hungry." He drooled slightly at the thought Sea King.

"You ate three times already today!" Ivankov shouted and the other three who'd been present for most of it nodded.

"But we were talking about meat! And I only ate twice!" Luffy frowned, not counting the little snack he'd had on Sabaody.

"Stop talking yourself hungry!" The Okama queen yelled.

"He started." Luffy pointed at Jinbe.

Before Jinbe could ask just how any of this was his fault (and how come he had been pulled into Luffy's pace?!) Ace's stomach growled, which quickly drew everyone's attention to him. "I'd like something as well."

"You really are brothers." Jinbe chuckled and shook his head and sighed. "Don't worry Luffy-kun, we'll reach Fishman Island soon and I'll make sure you can eat as much as you want."

With stars in his eyes the young captain turned to him. "Join my crew, Jinbe!"

"WHAT?" Even Rayleigh and Crocodile looked unsettled.

"Idiot! He's the captain of the Sun Pirates!" Ace exclaimed.

"But he said he wouldn't be a Shichibukai anymore. And he's cool and even though I won't be able to eat shark he still likes other fish and meat and Sea King and there is no problem anymore, so he should join the crew!"

"You can't just ask anyone who gave you food to join you." Ace once again hit his head.

"I don't!" Luffy exclaimed angrily. "I only invite people I like! I don't want a big crew, I want my friends! And I want Jinbe to join, he's cool! I like him!"

Feeling rather touched, Jinbe sat down next to the young captain and his brother and let Rayleigh take over the steering wheel. There was something he had wanted to ask Luffy for some time already.

"Don't you hate fishmen?" Jinbe questioned without preamble.

"Why? Because of those people on Sabaody? They're nasty!" Luffy remembered all too well what had happened at that Island and how Hachi had been treated there. A glare settled on his face. "They tried to sell Keimi too!"

"I'm not sure I understand what you are talking about, but I was thinking of Arlong." Jinbe told him.

"What?" Luffy asked totally shocked. "You're friends with Arlong?"

"I'm not his friend, not anymore at least. But we were on the same crew and it's my fault he came to the East Blue." The older man confessed reluctantly.

"What? You made your crewmate come to Nami's home?!" Luffy's mouth hung open.

"No I didn't! He left the crew because he hated humans too much. But by becoming a Shichibukai I kept him out of prison." Jinbe tried to explain.

"So you didn't make him attack those villagers?" Luffy wanted to clarify.

"Of course not!" Jinbe had much too much pride and honor to attack someone that hadn't done anything at all to deserve his wrath. Though if they did, then that was another story altogether.

"Well, then I don't understand what you are worried about or why you think it's your fault. You didn't tell him to hurt Nami and be an asshole." Luffy grinned relieved.

"Who is Nami?" The fishman asked.

"Our navigator. She was forced to join Arlong's crew before she joined mine." explained Luffy.

"And she doesn't hate fishmen?" Jinbe doubted someone who had suffered under Arlong wouldn't hate his kind. After all his own people hated humans to this day, though there were exceptions like Whitebeard who protected them. Jinbe himself had been no exception until he met the old man.

"Why would she? She even likes Hachi now and Keimi and Pappug. And can you imagine how sad Sanji would be if we couldn't go to see Mermaid's because someone didn't like them?" Luffy shook his head.

"So she doesn't hate us…" Jinbe whispered.

"She hates Arlong, and maybe that other weird guy that stole her map. And probably some of the others too, she wasn't sure about Hachi either, but now she likes him and his Takoyaki were great!" Luffy thought some more on this topic.

"None of us like Arlong. But we were all looking forward to Fishman Island and now I am the only one who will see it." Luffy sounded rather disappointed.

Jinbe, who felt rather humbled right now. It did remind him of Otohime and how she always wanted fishmen and humans to get along with each other. He wondered if there was a chance of that wish becoming reality. Hearing about the navigator he for the first time thought that maybe it could

"I'm surprised you didn't ask Rayleigh to join you." Ace said, mostly to bring Luffy's attention to other matters instead of his missing crew.

"I wanted to. I like him too." Luffy grinned. "But he knows all about One Piece and I'm gonna become Pirate King. It wouldn't be an adventure this way. And he also said he wanted to stay hidden, which is sad, but he has seen everything already."

Rayleigh roared with laughter at that answer, and all the others, except Ace, joined in. He had liked the young captain from the moment Shanks had told him about the kid he met in the East Blue all those years ago. Meeting him had cemented that opinion enough that he actually didn't mind being noticed by the Marines all that much if it meant keeping Luffy alive so he could continue his journey. He eyed Luffy's wound that had bled through yet another bandage and glanced at the submarine. It'd work out, somehow, he just hoped the sub could keep up with their pace.

Ace stared at his brother unable to form any words before resting his head against Luffy's shoulder in exasperation. He should have known better than to expect anything else, never mind Luffy's reason of why he _wouldn't_ ask someone! Of course it wasn't something like the fact he had been the vice-captain of the most successful pirate crew ever.

"Be glad he respects you too much. He can be quite insistent if he wants you to come along apparently." Ace warned Rayleigh, causing another round of laughter.

"We're nearing the Downward Plume, however it looks like we won't be using it just yet." Rayleigh turned the ship around. "Take a good look below us, you should be able to see it now."

"Hmm? Is there another ship besides the bear's here?" Luffy asked.

Ivankov chuckled. "Aye, look below us, you two. It's quite the sight from this angle."

"Is it…" Ace's eyes widened.

"Ah, it's the Moby Dick." Rayleigh smiled gently.

"Oyaji…" Ace whispered before tightening his hold on Luffy, who apparently wanted to very much see the other ship now. "Stay still!" He hissed. "We don't need you putting your life in danger now. You heard Ivankov!"

"I want to see your ship!" Luffy yelled and was promptly given a piggyback ride which had him grinning again.

"WOAH! IT'S HUUUGE!" Luffy exclaimed once he could see the ship below them coming closer. He stretched his neck over the railing to get a better look and at once managed to pierce through the coating bubble coming back a moment later coughing and sputtering.

"LUFFY!" Ace seriously wanted to choke his overly idiotic brother, who was still catching his breath.

"Don't you get lost there?" Luffy asked excited a minute later. "You'll have to show me everything!"

"Tell you what, Luffy?" Ace gave in. "Let's go visit our kitchen… after I introduce you to some of my friends, okay? And then I will show you the rest of the ship."

Naturally Luffy loved the idea.

"Can any of you signal them? They might assume we're an enemy ship." Rayleigh reminded everyone.

"Sure." Crocodile drawled and quickly sent a flashlight signal, indicating that they were no enemies. Whitebeard usually was patient enough to not attack right away, though with the current situation they couldn't be too careful.

Luffy vibrated on Ace's back. He wanted to see this huge ship that, while not as great as their own Sunny, was something else altogether. It had to be, it was Ace's new home after all.

Ace was about to return to his crew and he would be alright, alive and well, as he should be. And he also was still stronger, though Luffy would catch up in no time! He took the Vivre Card out of its respective place and smiled at the paper's size and state. Then he carefully put it back under the band of his hat again, not noticing Jinbe, who was quietly watching him.

Afterwards he swung his legs around for a bit before quickly losing his patience again.

Having learned nothing from his previous experience, Luffy once again tried to stretch his neck outside to see more, but was quickly pulled back by Jinbe who, gave him (and by extension Ace) his own Flutter Kick Coating that would at least allow him to move away a little bit. Anything to keep Ace from erupting in fire and hitting the already hurt boy.

…

"OYAJI! It's the Straw Hats' ship!" At last someone could see the flag clearly enough to identify it (which wasn't an easy task, since they were below the other ship).

And finally their father's booming laughter filled the ship. "Put your weapons away. If that's the case then there is no need to fight."

"Are you sure?" Blenheim asked worried.

"Do you want to explain to Ace why you attacked his little brother's ship?" Marco asked. This sentence earned quite a few gasps. All of the second division, some of the commanders and of course Whitebeard had been told (in some cases quite often) about Ace's younger brother, but the other's didn't know about him, much less that it was Straw Hat Luffy, the rookie who'd been in the Newspapers regularly lately. (It explained so much too. Finally they knew why Izo had started to keep the articles with news about Straw Hat neatly stacked in his cabin ever since he started to appear more.)

"Remember, Delacuaji told us, that Straw Hat Luffy was seen with Ace. It seems like the little brat broke into prison and got him out" Their father concluded.

Under normal circumstances their crew would take someone else rescuing one of theirs in such a manner as an insult. However, having been told about Luffy in detail Whitebeard admitted to himself that he should have expected to meet the brat today, one way or another. He however hadn't believed the other captain to be crazy enough to pay a visit to Impel Down.

"They just sent a friendly signal." Curiel informed them and was ordered to return it right away.

Whitebeard felt a wave of Haki as a way of greeting, one he hadn't felt in a great many years, and laughed once again.

As if by magic most of the tenseness that had accumulated over the last few weeks, ever since the news of Ace's impending execution had reached them, evaporated and was replaced by an atmosphere of nervous excitement.

"Haki?" Blenheim, who'd felt the wave as well, asked.

"Don't worry." Whitebeard chuckled. "It's someone I haven't seen in a great many years. You will meet him in a few minutes."

"Kingdew, as soon as we have confirmed Ace's wellbeing with our own eyes, call our fleet and our allies. It shouldn't take much more than a few…" He trailed of watching curiously as two extremely stretched arms appeared in his sight and two hands grabbed on to the Moby Dick's railing.

The arms began to shrink rapidly, if their movements was anything to go by, before laughing and yelling could be heard from the ocean. A few of his sons noticed and managed to pull some others back just in time. The arms shrank back to their normal size and a black, blue and red ball broke through their coating and landed with a rather loud crash in a heap on the main deck of the Moby Dick where they finally could make out two human beings.

"ONCE YOU'RE HEALED I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" A most familiar and most welcome voice roared enraged as one figure untangled itself from the other, with flames appearing on its skin, thus killing of even the last bit of doubt that it could be anyone or anything else than Ace. The other one meanwhile still laughed as he remarked about how the ocean had made him feel weak even though he had only stretched his hands through the ocean.

Then, to the surprise of all, Ace bent down to extremely carefully and gently help the one he just threatened to his feet.

To their father's dismay their apparent guest was bleeding rather badly, if the red on the previously pristine deck was anything to go by. If that boy was indeed Straw Hat Luffy (it was difficult to say, since he wasn't wearing a Straw Hat and looked rather pale), it was no surprise that his son was so uncharacteristically gentle, even as he was still yelling. He must've been worried sick. And he couldn't even alleviate any it, for their own doctors and nurses were all women and as such they left them in the New World. Whitebeard had been planning for war after all. Instead of a doctor he signaled for someone to bring their first aid kit, it was the only thing he could do right now.

For several minutes no one else said a word as the boy was being fussed over by Ace all the while laughing and staring around apparently very much curious about them and the ship until the moment he reached for something on his head and found nothing. Then he started to look around agitated and asked "Hat? … Where's my hat? Ace, my hat!"

Most of the crew, who had wanted to welcome their lost commander back, were watching fascinated and rather shocked as their commander picked the other up and started to look around for the missing hat as well, scolding the smaller one even more for losing it.

Finally Marco threw an old looking hat that had definitely seen better days to the boy. "Aren't you worried about the wrong thing, yoi?"

"My hat!" The boy yelled and smiled at him. "Thanks… hmmm… you're not the captain, are you? You don't have a white beard!"

Marco raised an eyebrow towards Ace in question. Had the boy really no clue who their father was. Taking Ace's sigh and exasperation as an indication he went for no as an answer to his unasked question.

"Gurararara. I'm the captain of this ship." Their father informed the still grinning boy who was dusting his hat off putting it on. Then he looked at Whitebeard with an even wider smile. Marco hadn't thought it was possible.

"Oyaji…" Ace whispered, watching him with so many mixed emotions.

"Welcome back, son!" the old man looked at his son who was still holding on to the Straw Hat captain (with the hat on no one doubted his identity anymore).

"I'm sor-"

"I'm glad you're home!" Whitebeard cut Ace off. His son was obviously distressed about a lot of things at this very moment. There'd be more than enough time to talk about whatever still mattered later, when he wasn't desperate to get help for his brother. "I'm sure you've been through a lot of trouble."

The two stared at each other for several moments until Luffy chuckled and freed himself to stand on his own legs.

"Shishishi. So you're the captain! You're huge! And you have a white beard!"

"Of course he has!" Ace yelled again. "Don't be disrespectful!"

"So this is Ace's crew and ship, right?" He asked the captain, ignoring Ace for the moment.

"It is indeed." Whitebeard replied, curious where this was going. The brat once again took a good look around, smiling widely. And finally Blenheim arrived with their first aid kit and it seemed as if this reminded Ace again of his brother's injury yet again.

"Oyaji! Please, a first aid kit isn't enough! He's in serious need of a doctor! He's losing too much blood!" Ace pleaded for the other man's help, and it hurt him to disappoint his beloved son.

"We left all of our doctors and medics in the New World, Ace. This is the best we can do at the moment. We'll hurry and get him proper help, Marco-"

"What? But Luffy won't make it!" Ace tensed up completely.

"Don't worry about that!" Luffy waved them off, which in turn was ignored by Blenheim who set to work.

All of a sudden Luffy's expression turned serious. "More importantly, you will make sure Ace is alright, won't you?" He asked as he locked eyes with Whitebeard.

"LUFFY!" Ace shouted almost embarrassed, however the other didn't take his eyes of Whitebeard's own.

Several members of their crew gasped in indignation. Ace was one of them! How dare the brat imply that they wouldn't care for their own! How dare he insult their captain and father!

Whitebeard however grinned. The other captain not only had guts but apparently also had a brother complex, just like Ace. He wasn't challenging or insulting him, no. He only wanted to confirm that his brother was well loved and accepted here. He wanted to make sure he had brought his brother back to where he should be. These kinds of feelings Whitebeard could easily respect and accept.

"Of course. Ace is my son."

The Straw Hat brat's smile returned full force at his answer. "Shishishi. Good. Then all is right. Oh, and don't worry about the guys on my ship." He told him and pointed to the smaller ship that was getting close enough to connect both of the coating bubbles before continuing to confuse many of the curious listeners. "Ah well… except for Crocodile, he wants to fight you or something. I didn't want to free him, but Iva-chan said we should and he was helpful because of Iva-chan, though Crocodile doesn't like him. I'd beat him again, but then Ace would hit me for moving too much again. Also I don't feel so good anymore. I need food."

Blenheim, who had finally managed to take the unhelpful captain's bandages of, cursed colorfully. "I don't think it's food you lack!" He was happy he was blocking Ace's view right now. The wound looked as if it went right through the Straw Hat kid's abdomen. As quickly as possible he bandaged him again and prayed the other would make it to the New World so they could help him. He, as well as most others, had realized that Ace would probably die along with his brother should it come to that, even if not in the literal way.

"EH? But Ace promised me food!" Luffy whined, reminding the older man of a kicked puppy and Ace quickly reassured him that he'd get to eat something soon. Blenheim eyed Ace warily and started the mental count of one to zero for Straw Hat, despite the serious situation.

"Oyaji" Jinbe, who had jumped onto the deck of the Moby Dick together with Ivankov greeted the older captain before turning towards Luffy. "… Stop thinking about your food for a moment and start worrying about your health."

"It's your fault." Luffy stated matter-of-factly. If it wasn't for Jinbe he wouldn't have talked about food after all, and if he wouldn't have talked about food he wouldn't have gotten hungry and probably wouldn't have thought about it right now.

"Sorry, but you soon won't have the strength to eat, Straw Hat-boy!" Ivankov was worried. "Any moment now and…"

"Ah, don't worry." Luffy smiled. "Ace is alright now, so I don't care if I make it-"

"LUFFY!" Ace paled drastically at his brother's words. "What the hell are you saying? Of course you will make it! Don't you dare save me and die for it!"

"I won't die! But Iva-chan's magic will run out soon so I'll sleep! I'm gonna be the Pirate King! Even if I should die, I will still become the Pirate King first!" He yelled while swaying a little, causing Ace to freak out and carry him once again.

Chuckling could be heard from the other ship, while most of the Moby Dick's crew watched the other captain with huge eyes, not believing their ears. The firm conviction with which the small brat had stated that he'd be the King of Pirates in his current condition was amazing and crazy at once. He absolutely made no sense.

He grinned at Ace and confirmed. "I will make it!"

"Ne Rayleigh," he called towards his own ship and the chuckling stopped. "Are the bear-pirates-" "Heart Pirates-" Ivankov tried to inform him. "-close now?"

"RAYLEIGH?!" Even the commanders of the Moby Dick now looked at the man at the wheel, who had answered, before turning back to the Straw Hat captain again in wonder.

"Ah, they're still following us and catching up. Maybe they'll hurry if one of you guys would send a distress signal and request help!" Rayleigh suggested ignoring all the curious stares. "You're lucky he followed us so far Luffy."

"Shishishi, I know."

"That captain followed us here?" Ace asked, torn between wonder and hopefulness.

"He did." Luffy smiled. "So I will be alright and you won't get out of your promise! Either of them!" Luffy said determined and Ace couldn't help but smile shakily and nod.

"Good, then I'm sorry, but I'll leave the rest to you." Luffy told him. All his own worries had been taken care of, so he finally could give in to his body's condition and went limp in his brother's arms, who grit his teeth and hid his eyes beneath his bangs.

"So who is on that submarine that we sent the signal to?" Whitebeard inquired, sure that Kingdew had done as requested by his old rival's right hand man.

"A doctor." Ace said, holding on to Luffy tightly.

"He's called the Surgeon of Death, the captain of the Heart Pirates, and offered to help Luffy before. Unfortunately we couldn't stay since the Marines had been sighted and we wanted to find you. His crew apparently also did have a run in with one before so he was about to leave as well. Their ship followed us so far, so maybe we will be lucky." Rayleigh further explained.

"Aren't you two coming over here as well?" Whitebeard turned to Crocodile and Daz Bones once the other ship had answered their distress signal.

"I'm not interested anymore." Crocodile glared. "I came here because they said you were going to war, but with your precious commander back I doubt that will happen anytime soon now, much less on such favorable grounds for the Marines."

"Gurarara." Whitebeard laughed. "Feel free to challenge me to a fight anytime, brat."

"Tch."

"Still, thank you for helping my son." Whitebeard knew when thanks were due.

"I had nothing better to do. Besides, that little shit is an interesting one." He said while pointing to Luffy.

…

A few minutes later the submarine appeared behind the sunny, followed by a blue circle which enveloped parts of all three ships and suddenly the captain of the Heart Pirates joined the group on deck of the Moby Dick.

"I didn't think I'd ever stand on deck of this ship." said the tall captain as he looked around and nodded to Whitebeard as a matter of greeting. Seeing the other supernova unconscious he moved to take him away from Ace but was almost burned by flames.

"If you do want me to help, you'll have to let me take him to the submarine. All my equipment is there, you know." He held up his hands to placate the older brother who glared at him.

"Isn't he your rival? What reason would you actually have to help him?" Ace demanded.

"None. I have no obligations towards him nor any of his crew. But I am curious. It'd be boring for him to die here. Still if he does, I won't lose any sleep over it." He replied bluntly.

"Luffy-kun was certain that he'd help him, so I'd go with his judgement for now, Ace." Rayleigh told him.

"Besides" Jinbe added, "it's not as if we have any other way of helping him since you heard that all of your doctors aren't on the ship right now."

"So what blood type does he have?" Law asked, already thinking of the surgery.

"F" Ace replied without hesitation.

"Then I'll need a donor. I don't have anyone on my crew with that blood type and I'm not normally helping others." He shrugged and eyed Ace. "You're his brother, right?"

"Not by blood." Ace admitted. "I don't have type F."

"Then use mine instead." Jinbe offered to Law's bewilderment. Fishmen usually didn't offer blood, quite the opposite actually.

"I'm still coming along." Ace stated.

Law shrugged. "You're not allowed in the operation room and stay out of the way of my crew."

"Mind if I come along as well, yoi?" Marco suddenly asked. "I'm worried he'll storm into the operation room should he hear his little brother."

"Straw Hat-ya won't be making a sound, he's too out of it." Law told him but allowed him to join anyway.

When no one else had anything to say the five vanished along with the blue circle.

…

* * *

…

So how did you like this chapter? Again it was rather slow moving…

If you found any mistakes, please let me know!

Sorry for the short part with Law. I wanted to write more, but I've rewritten the whole Whitebeard meeting (and Law's part) three times now and I am tired as it's past midnight yet again. Also I wanted Luffy to be in capable hands.

 **Next up** is a time skip (of a few days) and then a few talks will happen. Law will appear again most likely. As of course will Whitebeard and his crew. I'm thinking of writing about doing a scene with Rayleigh and Whitebeard too, it could be interesting. Then there of course is Sabo and also the Marines' reactions, which will have to be covered sometime soon.

 **Let me know what you think** **and if you have any suggestions** (as long as you don't ask me to write fighting scenes – if I need them you'll most likely only hear about the results in a tiny back flash sort of way.)

 **Thanks for reading ~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings/notes:**

 **1) This is one of the more serious chapters!** With Luffy unconscious a lot of the more serious topics get discussed. I also skipped Fishmen Island (Everyone would look there first and also Hody wasn't a problem back then). Hope you'll still enjoy reading this chapter anyway!

I also edited one major mistake in the last chapter: Otohime of course wished for peace and not hate! Sorry for that and thanks to those who pointed this out!

 **2)** **Let me know if you find any mistakes**. I can only find as many mistakes in my own writing (and sometimes I add more when I rewrite things again and again…)

 **3)** Last but not least my usual warning: **in case of romance it will be boys love** (though also most likely one of the more unusual pairings)

 **Disclaimer** : I still don't own One Piece and unfortunately I never will!

 **Many, many thanks to:** **ceciimanassero4, iitrnr, StarliteOracle** , **FreshNerd** , **Reikon67,** **sess18** , **LongPastMidnight** , **Collette Nicole** , **Nami Heartfilia** , **Destrark** , **rohanandshurtugal** , **DMCP,** **Lightningblade49,** **Bluejay Blaze,** **Nala1220,** **SR (ScarletRoofs),** **KHR-Yunalesca,** **Kurowara24,** **MadWorld, N**

...

* * *

…

 **Breakout chapter four (Whitebeard, Rayleigh and the news around the world)**

...

Eight days later Luffy's eyes shot open for the first time. At first he was slightly disoriented, until he remembered just why he had woken. In his dream, or more accurately his nightmare they had taken Ace away. Ace! Where was Ace?! He almost panicked as he struggled to get up.

"S' 'sn't 're." A muffled voice came from his right side, apparently he had called out loud for him. "Will 'b 'ck later."

"Ace is ok?" Luffy turned towards the voice and though his vision was still blurry he could make out some blonde locks sticking out from under a pillow that the person was hiding under.

"Yea… dn' lev 't all." was the sleepy and difficult to understand reply. But Luffy got the meaning.

Ace was alright. He remembered now, he had gotten his brother back alive, he was well and probably rather happy. Still, Ace should be here no matter what! A pout formed on his face and he grumbled.

Luffy had expected Ace to be here when he woke up. He wanted him here, not some stranger. Even if it was someone whom Ace trusted enough to watch over him for a while. A damn good job he was doing too. Falling asleep in his bed, instead of being awake and getting his brother when he woke up! Ace must have been forced to leave his side, there was no way he'd not be here otherwise, not when Luffy had been hurt as he had been. Ace always had been like this and it was one of the things that probably also wouldn't change.

His pout turned into a frown as the blond guy's hand tightened its apparent hold on him and pulled him down again. Why was he here if he wanted to sleep? He wasn't Ace! And he certainly wasn't doing his job at all!

Well, at least he could relax again after that nasty dream. He knew his brother was alright and that was the most important thing after all. As Luffy settled back down he noticed that this must be Ace's bed on the big whale-ship they had landed on before he'd blacked out. The bed smelled just like him, it was nice. And the guy beside him kept him warm and comfortable, even if he was sleeping himself and not doing what he was supposed to do (and yes, Luffy was miffed about that.)

He even contemplated kicking up a fuss and making him get Ace, but then again, he'd probably be asleep before Ace got here. He felt extremely tired. If that happened Ace would either think the other guy had played a prank or worry again. The guy besides him pulled him closer and Luffy was too happy about the warmth his hug provided to protest. Also, he was the one who had given him his hat back after he had rocketed them to their ship. He couldn't be such a bad person and Ace apparently trusted him too. The blond had seemed tired already back then, so maybe he should let him sleep for a while. It also helped that this person smelled nice and comforting.

It didn't take another minute for Luffy to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep again. It however took another five minutes for his companion to become completely aware, realize that Luffy had woken up and start cursing himself for not waking properly earlier. He needed to find Ace… and the doctor.

…

…

 **Five days earlier**

In the early hours of the morning the Moby Dick with its other flagships arrived on one of the islands under their protection in the New World. It was one of the closer ones to the Red Line, so they were in reasonable distance in case some of their allies who were still on their way back to the New World called for aid, no matter how unlikely it was right now.

The crew cheered, more so than usually at seeing land. While they had been in constant contact with the Straw Hat's and Heart Pirate's ships during their journey here, they had not been able to see their two commanders once they had vanished along with Jinbe and the other two captains. They were also curious about Rayleigh and the three people aboard the Straw Hat's ship.

Most of all however they wanted to see Ace's little brother and hoped the rookie would be up and about soon enough. So far most of the news they had gotten concerning him were grim. During the surgery Straw Hat's heart had stopped twice. With none of them being doctors they didn't understand much of what Trafalgar Law and his second in command (someone very polite who apologized several times when none of them got what they were talking about) told them. They did understand that it had been more of a close call than anyone had guessed before, aside from Rayleigh apparently.

Jinbe was now also confined to bed rest. Straw Hat had needed more blood than they anticipated, so he had to rest as well. The patient fishman however wasn't upset about it. He was quite content to help the man who had given him the chance to stop (or fight in) the war.

Right behind them the Thousand Sunny emerged and docked as well, followed by the yellow submarine of the Heart Pirates. The guests of the Thousand Sunny were the first ones to leave their ship and board the Moby Dick, even Crocodile, though he was scowling. Some of the Heart Pirates also braved their ship, after Whitebeard had given the ok to do so. People who had helped him for no apparent reason, other than curiosity, would be treated as friends unless they acted otherwise. Ace and Marco however didn't come out of the submarine, neither did the Heart Pirate's captain. Izo and Kingdew at once made for the submarine to find out more.

…

"I didn't think I'd ever see you on my ship outside of a fight." Whitebeard commented when Rayleigh sat down in front of him as the others went to eat breakfast (with only a few of his sons staying at a respectful distance).

"Neither did I. Especially not under such circumstances." Rayleigh accepted a big sake cup. "Then again, I also didn't imagine ever helping another captain."

"Gurararara. The kid really is quite something." Whitebeard chuckled. "A fearless brat with no manners and a dream more foolish than any other."

"He has what it takes to pull through, if given the chance." Rayleigh shrugged.

"Right now the brat isn't strong enough however." Whitebeard drank from his bottle.

"Ah." Rayleigh agreed. "You're right there. His whole crew, while strong for Paradise, isn't ready for the New World yet."

"And yet you brought him here already." Whitebeard locked eyes with him. "Are you planning on staying with the Straw Hat Pirates now?"

"He would have come here as long as Ace was with him no matter what I did. He's stubborn." Rayleigh chuckled. "Ace asked Luffy-kun, why he hadn't invited me to join the crew. His answer was that while he'd like it, if I joined, it'd be boring since I knew everything about One Piece already. He also said he'd rather quit being a pirate than going on some adventure where he already knew about everything."

Whitebeard was amused, too. This kind of answer fit well to the boy Ace had told him so much about.

"Roger was the only captain for me." Rayleigh continued. "Luffy-kun is a lot like Roger. His ideals, his opinions, they are so much alike. And I believe if given the chance Luffy-kun will make it all the way to One Piece within the next few years already. However, even if they could pass as twins and even if most people in the future will compare the two of them or believe that Luffy-kun is Roger's reincarnation, Luffy is Luffy and Roger is Roger. One cannot replace the other."

"Then why did you come along with them? You kept off the Marine's radar for so many years, why now?" Whitebeard questioned further.

"To make sure he gets the chance he needs. A new era is about to start, you know this. And Monkey D Luffy, one who inherited the will of D, without a doubt will be one of the driving forces behind it. I will make sure he'll be ready for whatever may come. He already agreed to let me train him for a while. I'm thinking of about two years." Rayleigh wasn't even sure if two years would be enough. If it wasn't he already had some vague backup plans, but he'd wait and see first before exploring any of his other ideas.

"So you'll join him for a while as a teacher." Whitebeard nodded. "That's more like you. If you had wanted to join another crew, or become a captain yourself, you'd have done so a long time ago."

Rayleigh hummed in agreement. "I'm rather fond of the peace and quiet I have now. However this is one thing I wouldn't want to miss, no matter what."

"I can see why." Whitebeard had a fond look in his eyes.

"You shouldn't think about making him one of your sons." He stated amused.

"Why not? He is my son's brother. He already is family either way." Whitebeard said matter-of-factly.

"I suppose you can see it this way. Just know that he won't join you. To him being the Pirate King means being the freest person in this world. He doesn't want to rule others, nor will he let someone else rule over him." Rayleigh smiled at the memory that made him realize just how alike Roger and Luffy were.

Even Whitebeard's eyes widened at that. "Like Roger indeed… Either way, we both will have to wait for the brat to wake up. I wonder how Ace will take the news about possibly being separated from his little brother again. He does have quite the brother complex, and with what Straw Hat has been up to lately I fear for him. He hasn't seen the news about Enies Lobby yet, much less the ones about his brother's run in with the Tenryubito."

Rayleigh winced lightly at the thought of that. Both he and Ivankov had promised him answers. He certainly wasn't looking forward to informing him about any of that. All too easy did he remember how he had often felt about Roger, and that was when he had been standing right at his side! How much worse did Ace feel each time his brother did something unbelievable like challenging the World Government and escaping a Buster Call.

"I will see how that will turn out later. I promised to answer his questions. Jinbe will most likely want to hear that as well. And Ivankov also has a few things to tell him that I am curious about myself."

"And what about Gol D Roger's right hand man training his little brother?" Whitebeard wondered.

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with that? Ace didn't seem to have problems before. Quite the opposite, he readily told me that Luffy could learn all three forms of Haki. And if it's about the rivalry between our crews, none of your other sons seems to mind much. They're quite the nice bunch. So why would Ace be any different? Or is there a reason for bad blood between him and Roger?

Whitebeard grinned. "It's not my place to tell you. If you wanna know, ask the kids yourself." Rayleigh shrugged, maybe he would.

Whitebeard grabbed another bottle of sake. With his daughters missing no one complained about it. "So tell me, what made Crocodile abandon the Straw Hat's ship for the Moby Dick? He's not even trying to attack me."

Rayleigh grinned in return. "Don't worry about Crocodile. He'll attack you the moment the odds are more in his favor, he's not stupid enough to go against you when everyone would focus on him in a heartbeat. And you're right, he wouldn't have left the Thousand Sunny, unless there was some ship around for him to hijack. However… for the lack of better words, the ship turned almost _hostile_ when Luffy-kun didn't return. It gives of an eerie feeling. I guess Crocodile got rather unnerved by it. And if I'm not mistaken it will stay this way until one of the crew returns."

"This reminds me of the legend of the Klabautermann." Whitebeard pondered. "It seems like a fairy tale to most pirates, however I think there is some truth to it. I could imagine the Moby Dick rejecting outsiders, if all of my crew would be away for a while."

"I thought the same about the Oro Jackson. Though both our crews were big enough to always have some people on board. I'd like to hear the story behind the Sunny one day. The ones who built it were the disciples of Tom."

"Ask your charge then." Whitebeard suggested.

"That would be what you'd normally do, isn't it?" Rayleigh shook his head. "Luffy-kun isn't a fan of telling stories, and if he does it can be quite confusing, unless you have at the very least some inkling already."

Whitebeard could only shake his head. Ace's little brother indeed…

…

"Oyaji!" Vista called his father with a stack of newspapers in his hands. Sometime after his private talk with Rayleigh all the commanders who weren't on the submarine, had gathered around Whitebeard and had waited for him to return with news about what had happened while they were making their way here under water. "We've gotten some newspapers from the last few days. They've finally seen fit to inform the public of the breakout of Impel Down."

"Not that they could hide much, with how all those escapees went wild around Sabaody." Blamenco sniggered.

"It was a good thing for us that they did! Ace would have had a lot more trouble escaping otherwise!" Haruta said, which most likely was true. Due to the escapees being sighted on two different ships they followed them before they discovered that Ace wasn't on either. The ex-prisoners, as far as everyone knew, had managed to escape the Marine's wrath, once it became known that Ace wasn't there.

Furthermore, with all the news agents present on Sabaody during the time of Ace's almost execution the government hadn't managed to hide the escape of them, especially not when they hijacked a ship from one of the richer people on the archipelago. There had been too many journalists and witnesses to cover up much. Not to mention that they had been working fast and printed the pictures before anyone managed to put a stop to it.

Meanwhile the battleship carrying Inazuma and the other okamas had made it back to Momoiro Island. Just the other day a call had reached Ivankov's stolen Den Den Mushi. Inazuma told him that all was well, that everyone was waiting for their queen's return, which unfortunately would still take some time. Ivankov was waiting for one of his comrades to pick him up. He'd gotten into contact with Dragon already and the man had agreed to Ivankov's request. Though even then Ivankov would not leave before Luffy was better.

Ivankov was also told about an unexpected guest on Kamabakka Kingdom. He'd appeared out of nowhere and had been rather rude to the inhabitants of the peaceful island at the beginning - before starting to assimilate little by little, a fact that was heavily denied by said person in the background. Soon enough Ivankov found out that their guest apparently belonged to Straw Hat's crew (a fact that was made all the more believable when Inazuma told him about a certain paw-dent on their island.) Receiving the news about his captain the blond had agreed to wait for him to wake up and talk with Luffy himself before leaving Momoiro Island.

"As expected." Fossa said as he sat beside his father and ran over the pages of the older newspapers. "First one throws shit at the Marines for letting Ace escape, next one focuses on the other Impel Down prisoners and also holds the first statement from Sengoku… pending investigations and an assurance that none of the worst prisoners of Impel Down managed to escape."

Vista whistled, reading through an article of today's newspaper. "Forget about all that, they're blaming Blackbeard!" His eyes moved rapidly down the page now. "Blackbeard broke into Impel Down at the same time Ace and the others were escaping. Apparently he had a run in with the five vice admirals who were on standby and defeated them. Thus making it possible for Ace to break out. Later on he was in turn defeated by Magellan apparently. He's heavily poisoned – they didn't mention his death yet though! OI!"

Blenheim had snatched the newspaper out of his hands "Right… and the first word about Straw Hat, they say he came to Impel Down with Teach and used the distraction to help Ace escape. They're making it sound as if they're accomplices!"

This got a round of angry yells from those surrounding them and the newspaper was stolen back.

"So Teach was there too. What did he want there?" Jozu wondered. "This doesn't make sense."

"No, it makes perfect sense now. Teach must have wanted to get some of the prisoners to join his crew. That's why he was after the position of a Shichibukai. He wanted to get to Impel Down without problems. Even he with all his treachery wouldn't have been able to break in otherwise. As a Shichibukai however he wouldn't be attacked at sight. That's also the reason why he handed Ace over to the Marines." Whitebeard clarified.

"In that case Ace hadn't been his target at first." Rayleigh, who along with Ivankov, Crocodile and Daz Bones had also been listening in, said.

"Perhaps it was Straw Hat-boy instead." Ivankov suspected. "Ve did meet him on our way out and Blackbeard they knew each other. Although the Marines know that he was here even before Blackbeard arrived…"

"The Marines need someone to take the blame for their failure. Do you think they'll admit that he broke in and out?" Crocodile scowled. "Of course he was Blackbeard's first Target. He did say something about Ace's imprisonment being Monkey's fault."

"That's not too difficult to believe. It was Straw Hat's fault that you were kicked from your position after all. He probably thought handing Straw Hat over would get him the position." Jozu added.

"According to the newspapers Smoker got the credit for it." Crocodile glared but was waved off by Atmos.

"We all know how the news are made and Straw Hat's bounty shot up right after. What a nice coincidence that makes."

"This still leaves the question of why the Marines were willing to risk war with Whitebeard. Up until now they always did their best to keep everything at status quo, keeping the three great powers balanced." Rayleigh had wondered about that from the moment he heard about the planned execution.

"They vere also risking war vith Dragon, for vat purpose?" Ivanokv read through his own copy of the newspaper. "Though there is no vord of him in here."

"There wouldn't be" Whitebeard said "Ace said it before, they're not brothers by blood. They have different parents."

Rayleigh's eyes widened. "I see, so that's the case. I had wondered about his name. But with the timing I didn't believe it was possible…"

"What?" Ivankov wanted to know what Rayleigh had discovered but wasn't given any reply.

There was a moment of silence, when everyone was looking from Whitebeard to Rayleigh, waiting for either to say more on what had been hinted at, but neither felt inclined to share more.

With a shrug Vista continued "With their failures to keep their word, and Ace not only escaping but never appearing the people have lost a great deal of trust in them. Many pirates and thugs have gone wild not only on the Grand Line but also in the four Blues."

"So the Marines have their hands full. Serves them right if you ask me." Jiru said spiteful.

"It will keep them on their toes for a good while, which is also a good thing for us." Curiel believed. "This gives the Straw Hats a chance to meet up, without having all of the admirals on their heels right away."

"Yeah." Vista agreed. "The article also states their suspicion that the Straw Hats have joined us for protection after they escaped from Sabaody or some similar shitty reason. Though the Marines have kept quiet about this. Either way, everyone expects Ace to be back with us now, which is the truth too. They'll certainly start searching once things calm down again."

"The Marines made their own beds, now they have to lie in them too." Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. "For the better or the worse, Straw Hat interfered with the war that would have happened without a doubt. This doesn't mean however that our confrontations with the Marine itself are over. On the contrary. From this point on we'll take any Marine sighting as an attack. If they think they can keep tabs on us after their attack on one of our own, knowing the consequences, they're dead wrong."

Cheers filled the ship as his sons without a single exception agreed with him. Up until this point they hadn't acted against the Marine's watchful eyes. There had been no need to, they had kept their distance and so had the Whitebeard Pirates. Ace's would-be execution had been the end of the unspoken agreement between one of the Yonkos and the World Government.

As for Teach, they were a bit miffed they couldn't get revenge on him on their own, but as long as he was dealt with they certainly could live with it. For all they cared about, all of them could rot in hell.

…

It was later that evening when Trafalgar Law made his first appearance on the deck of the Moby Dick since they had docked at the island. His ship had been invaded by several Whitebeard Pirates throughout the day. He didn't really mind it all that much, seeing as none of them were the prying sort and no one entered any other area then the one where Ace, Marco, Jinbe and Luffy were staying in. Still as a doctor he told them to keep it down or he'd throw all of them out.

Rayleigh gestured for him to come on board and offered some booze, he had liberated from the kitchen. Accepting a glass he sat down in between some of his own more curious crewmates, who had been invited to join the Whitebeard Pirates on deck some while ago. Naturally Whitebeard himself was also there, in between his big family, seeming rather relaxed and happy, though as a doctor he could tell the old man wasn't as healthy as he wanted everyone to believe.

"So how is Luffy-kun?" Rayleigh inquired.

"I've done everything I can. After the scare he gave everyone things went as well as they could. He should wake up in a few more days. His injury was rather grave so if he reopens it he may yet die." Law shrugged. "Make sure he doesn't do anything too strenuous for about four weeks."

"And how is Ace." Whitebeard asked when Rayleigh was satisfied with his answer.

"Hmmm… I'm probably the wrong person to ask that. From a medical point of view he is healthy. However he refuses to leave Straw Hat-ya's side and he glares at anyone who comes close to him, well, aside from your other commander. He almost burned Penguin when he suggested he should take a rest in the guest room."

One of the second division laughed. "That's our commander alright. You don't get between him and his little brother."

"No one was getting between them." Law stated drily.

"I hope my children aren't too much trouble." Whitebeard said.

"Right now I don't mind. I'll bring Straw Hat-ya here soon enough, so you'll probably get Fire Fist-ya back as well then."

"Isn't Marco staying as well?"

"He is, but unlike Fire Fist-ya he is quite a nice guest to have." Law thought for a moment before he added. "Though I suppose Fire Fist-ya got nicer when your other crewmates showed up for a visit. However, right now there may be too many of yours there."

Which was true, there were more Whitebeard Pirates on his ship right now than Heart Pirates. For a moment he had considered throwing everyone out, but then he shrugged it off. It was his ship and everyone knew that and behaved accordingly. They had stayed out of his way and none had been loud, which normally couldn't be said about pirates.

"In that case I thank you for your consideration. For the time being feel free to stay on the Moby Dick." Whitebeard offered his invitation.

"Then for the time being I don't mind your crewmembers on my ship either." They weren't enemies right at this moment but both understood that they weren't allies either. Still it seemed that the old man wouldn't attack their ship anytime soon, even when they came to the New World for real. Whitebeard was a man of honor, so he'd not attack someone who had helped him before unprovoked. Trafalgar Law could certainly work with that, even if this outcome hadn't been on his mind when he, on the spur of the moment, had decided to help the Straw Hat captain once again.

…

* * *

...

Once again a new chapter done. So far I actually managed to write one in about a week, didn't think that was possible. Thanks to all the encouragement everyone!

I hope you liked this more serious chapter. I didn't get as far as I wanted, and maybe some will be disappointed. I didn't show things from the Marine's point of view (I won't either, as I realized I would butcher their characters, since there are very few Marines that I like.) As such the job went to the newspapers.

Luffy and Ace, while still the focus of this story, didn't appear (much) in this chapter… the first scene actually only happened cause I was disappointed about that myself.

 **Well either way, let me know what you think please! Also tell me if you notice any mistakes :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings/notes:**

 **1) Sorry for not updating for so long.** I was extremely demotivated. Therefor this is my longest chapter yet.

Most of this chapter I have written several times. At first I had some rather depressing stuff in here (Ace's self-hatred, guilt and depression, his talk with Ivankov etc) and while I believe this would happen, I also believe Ace would know Luffy's feelings on that. I didn't want this story to get too depressing. My story is more about healing and becoming happy. So instead of this, I added the scene with Marco and Whitebeard.

Because this chapter covered two parts that I would have felt bad about making any shorter I added a continuation from the beginning scene of the previous chapter to add some lighter tones. I still feel those kind of things can't be skipped, even if I am not too happy with how they turned out.

 **2)** See any **mistakes**? Let me know (and please point out where). I can only find so many on my own and I don't want to reread once I posted, the scenes look so much better in my brain than on 'paper'.

 **3)** The usual warning: **Boys love** alert – don't like don't read (and again it will be one of the more unusual pairings – some of you guys already guessed it now, even though I actually tricked you!)

 **Disclaimer:** Like always I still don't own One Piece!

...

 **Thank you for all your encouraging reviews** : **LongPastMidnight, iitrnr, Blackstriker94, Jag, Kurowara24, Rin-s666, RainbowGuardian13, pikachu-naruto1, Elfyliane, Nala1220, Bluejay Blaze, KHR-Yunalesca, coolgamer, Lightningblade49,** **N** , **DMCP** , **ScarletRoofs** , **Black' Victor Cachat** , **OctaveTea** , **Yuriko**

...

* * *

 **...**

* * *

 **Breakout chapter 5 (Revolutionists)**

 **Eight days after the breakout**

"ACE!" Again someone was calling for the Whitebeard commander. Instead of answering he stubbornly buried his head under the pillows. He didn't feel like waking up at all. Damn it, couldn't they simply realize that Ace would be back with them for real in a few days, once his little brother woke up? It was neither difficult to understand why Ace didn't want to leave his side nor surprising. And whoever it was didn't even have the excuse that it had to be Ace who'd have to come for whatever important thing was going on now. They'd survived a few months without him, a few more days or even weeks wouldn't make a difference anymore. Whitebeard at least didn't mind.

Ace wasn't here right now, so the most logical thing for anyone who knew him would be to go to the kitchen. Since the person saw fit to shake him and the bed he was lying on he was forced to reply however so that the idiot would hopefully take the clue and leave.

Of course he didn't have any such luck. Well if worst came to worst, Ace would be back in about twenty minutes anyway. He only went to take a shower and get some food for them. It had been like that ever since Law had transported them back to the Moby Dick, so even an idiot should know that by now.

When the person still didn't stop moving around he simply pulled them down and held them tightly. The person squealed and struggled a little bit before settling down. Finally he could go back to sleep.

He was almost drifting off again when the other person turned around and snuggled closer to him, settling his head against his chest and hugging him tightly.

… 'Wait a moment…' Surprised he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked down. And sure enough: messed-up short black hair greeted him. A further glance provided more details and his brain alerted him to the fact that the teen was wrapped in bandages, and was once again happily snoring – and drooling – on his stomach now instead of his own pillow.

Another minute passed in which he finally comprehended that the one who had been disturbing his sleep and had asked for Ace wasn't some dumb person, who should know where the commander went even without an explanation, but his little brother, whom they all wanted to wake up.

And Ace had told him about how his cute little brother still loved cuddling as much as cat and naturally would cling to the one who provided hugs (and cuddles). He swore once he also remembered that the older brother would want to know right away, no matter if he was stuffing his face with his favorite food or being naked in the shower. He carefully transferred the black haired teen back onto the pillow and the matrass and then slid silently out of the bed. Or at least he tried to.

Straw Hat Luffy proved just how clingy he was as his arms stretched and held on to him in a death grip. Apparently the captain was not at all willing to let his source of warmth and comfort go.

"Oh come on!" He huffed. As soon as he managed to gently pry of the fingers of one hand the other hand came out and held on tightly. If he didn't know better he would have believed the other was awake and just being stubborn about it, but if that was the case he wouldn't stay silent.

He finally managed to free himself of both arms and took a few quiet steps before he suddenly found himself encircled by way too long arms and pulled back onto the bed yet again, narrowly missing hitting the sleeping captain. Said captain didn't wake at all and instead snuggled closer to him yet once more.

"… Are you for real?" He whispered exasperated though in the next moment he lifted the sleeping bundle up along with his blanket and carried him outside instead. He had promised to get everyone the second he woke. He didn't need Ace yelling his ear of if he didn't keep this promise.

Luffy seemed to have no problems with that as he made himself comfortable and inhaled deeply. "Shb…"

The blond froze for a moment then continued on his way as quickly and as silently as possible. _Ace!_

…

 **Five days earlier**

While most of the Heart Pirates had cheered when they arrived at their first destination in the New World, Ace could have cared less. Even the visits from his crewmembers hadn't helped too much. Currently he was lying in one of three beds in the infirmary on the submarine next to Luffy, while Marco occupied the one on the other side. Jinbe had requested to be brought into another room for the time being, when it became clear that too many people wanted to check up on the brothers and he wouldn't get any sleep. Now he was in the room next to theirs.

Luffy's surgery had taken quite some time and Law had deemed it too dangerous to move Luffy even with his power. He also stated that unless the Moby Dick had the newest medical equipment and technology like his ship had, he might not survive even now. Luffy had trusted him and while Ace would have loved to punch his face for talking so carelessly about his brother's life it was misplaced anger and Ace knew it. He was too grateful for the help the man had offered and knew well that Luffy wouldn't have had a chance without him.

Still, the thought of being so useless while Luffy laid stock-still like a corpse on the bed next to his was just too frustrating and sickening. Luffy was as pale as death and if it wasn't for the constant beeping and monitors indicating the movement of his heart he'd have believed that Luffy had died. It was like Luffy held almost all of his heart, a big chunk had gone with Sabo and what was left belonged to his father and his crewmates. It wouldn't be much without Luffy though. If he died, he'd be all alone. He got up and gently carded his fingers through Luffy's hair.

Luffy had a strong will to live, stronger than anyone else as far as he knew. He would make it, he'd promised, even if it was without words. He'd learned to trust his brother in these matters a long time ago.

The surgeon had commented on how it was surprising that it looked as if he would get better, that he was fighting to wake up again. According to him, if Luffy would make it, he'd wake up in around one week, though after that he'd still have to stay in bed for the most part – Ace would have banged his head in exasperation normally, but now, with Luffy not even twitching he swore he'd not complain about his hyperactive brother ever again. Even if it would take all of him to ensure Luffy would keep from running around his ship. He'd already warned Marco they'd need some seakings, he'd have to bribe him with food for sure after all, that and letting Luffy cling to him all he wanted. Not that he was opposed to that anymore. He didn't feel like letting Luffy out of his sight anytime soon. He'd come too close to losing all he had to live for. He understood well now how Luffy must have felt when he heard about his planned execution, even if he still wished his little brother had stayed away.

"You're still up." Ivankov's voice interrupted his thoughts.

…

When Marco came back to the Moby Dick for the first time after his three days absence most of his siblings were already sleeping. He couldn't blame them for it, Marco felt bone tired as well, however he couldn't sleep yet. He made his way over the deck of the ship, enjoying the mild breeze that came from the beach of the summer island. It was a huge contrast to the heat inside the stuffy submarine. How the Heart Pirates managed he didn't know. Marco already hated being cooped inside on the Moby for more than a few hours. But to each their own, he supposed.

Coming to a halt in front of his father he sighed in relief. It was good to be back, even if only for a few hours. There was no way he'd leave Ace on his own for long, not in the state he was in. Though right now Ivankov was with him and Ace had been better when he left. The same couldn't be said about his brother however. The young captain looked bad, it was no wonder Ace hadn't slept a wink in days.

Ivankov had helped greatly and he felt free to leave him in his care for a while, especially after Ace had consented to be injected with some hormones that would get him to relax, so he could finally sleep. He wondered about Ace however. He could understand how he wouldn't sleep and didn't leave his brother's side. In the three days he'd been told a lot about Straw Hat Luffy. Enough so that he knew he'd honestly feel sad if something were to happen to him, but that didn't explain Ace's behavior.

"You seem troubled." Whitebeard's attention had turned to him as he approached.

Marco thought about that. He wasn't worried, not really at least, but there was definitely some tension in him. "Honestly I'm not too sure, yoi."

"How do you feel then?" Whitebeard asked, interested in what his son would say. Worried probably had been the wrong word, Marco, though he did look a bit troubled, more or less looked confused to those who knew him well.

"I don't know… tired definitely, but… it's weird. Ace is weird." Marco shrugged.

"That's not something you say often." And it was true too. Marco rarely didn't have an opinion or an idea about his friends, it's what made him such a reliable commander. Maybe it was more a matter of wrapping his own mind about what had happened.

Marco sighed again. "Ace is better than expected. He didn't react with anger… aside from when Straw Hat's heart gave out, he nearly burned down the room we were in then, but I expected that anyway. It's more that he doesn't react much."

"Oh? No rage? And what about guilt and blaming himself for his brother's condition." Whitebeard wondered. He couldn't imagine Ace being alright with his brother being hurt because he tried to help him.

"No. No, that's all there, yoi. But it's… subdued. Whatever kind of message he got from Straw Hat went a long way. He said he does feel guilty, but that Straw Hat would be angry with him for being stupid, that Ace was his most important person and that he'd have done the same if their roles had been reversed. I don't doubt that for a second by the way. He did talk quite freely and I think it helped him focus. All in all he was pretty reasonable, which throws me off, if that makes sense." Marco tried to put his worries into thoughts.

"That sounds pretty good though." Whitebeard said thoughtful.

"He let Trafalgar Law do whatever he wanted without asking even a single question, aside from when his heart stopped, and even then he was alright with someone else explaining things, after he calmed down and Straw Hat's heart became stable again." Marco said dryly.

"I see why you worry, that doesn't sound like Ace at all. If it'd been one of ours he would have burned down any doors if they had kept him out and probably needed an additional doctor to bombard them with questions." Whitebeard mused.

"Straw Hat trusted that captain, yoi. That's apparently all the proof he needed, but why that's the case is beyond me. On one hand he told me how easily his brother can be tricked, on the other hand he seems to think his brother has an incredibly good intuition. He said he hadn't noticed Trafalgar Law following them, but that Luffy, even though he hadn't noticed either, believed he would be alright and that Trafalgar Law would help him out. It really all worked out, and he's one hell of a surgeon too."

Whitebeard nodded in deep thought. "Did he tell you more about his brother?"

"Yeah, we had three days after all. Straw Hat must have been a handful when he was younger, yoi." Marco had felt a nice mix between relieve and disappointment that he wouldn't get to meet the kid from back then and 'only' the more adult version from now. "I thought I understood when he showed us Straw Hat's first wanted poster. Remember his smile back then? How proud he was? Back then I thought he was a proud elder brother with a bit more of a brother complex than what is usual."

"And what do you think now?" Whitebeard asked. He thought back to the moment when Ace was shouting at the smaller boy and helping him up carefully. He'd already made his own opinion right then. He was still curious about Marco's thoughts.

"Right now I think that he almost regrets having left his little brother behind. The only reason why he doesn't allow himself to regret is because the two of them decided that they'd live their lives without any. I thought he had a complex, but now I know that Luffy means the world to him and is probably the one thing that keeps him going. It's almost as if his world would end if Straw Hat died. He loves you, and probably all of us too, but if that kid died then I fear so would Ace, yoi. Right now he's a shell of his normal self. He's not hotheaded, he doesn't joke and he hasn't smiled. He's almost lifeless." Marco arrived at his unwelcome conclusion.

"I'm not surprised about that. He was already desperate when they came aboard. That kid was the only one who accepted him wholeheartedly before he set sail, after all. On one hand it's good to see that Ace has someone who has that kind of influence on him, on the other I would have preferred it to be someone not quite as… thoughtless." Whitebeard referred to all the stories about the young captain's various adventures they'd read about in the newspapers.

"Don't remind me of that! Ace doesn't know about a single one of those stories since Alabasta. He asked about it of course, especially when Ivankov came. He told him only about Straw Hat's time in Impel Down. During his break in Straw Hat got poisoned by Magellan's hydra. He asked Ivankov for help and managed to pull through thanks to his hormones, yoi. Because of that he lost ten years of his life, however. Ace must have known about this before. He didn't rage, but I could tell it hurt him a lot. He also asked why his little brother would do something as stupid as this for a worthless person like him. He was shut up by Ivankov. Apparently Straw Hat had been Blackbeard's original target and Ace knew about it." Marco recounted. He didn't even want to remember the anguish on his friend's face.

"So Ace still thinks so lowly of himself, even after all this time. At least he knows now that his actions were actually helping his brother." Whitebeard remarked. He had hoped his son would have thought better of himself meanwhile. Though in light of the news regarding his brother it couldn't be helped. "Ten years… while no one knows when or how they will die, that's still a steep price." Whitebeard remarked.

"According to Ivankov he didn't even think about that for a second, if it meant being able to save Ace. Ten years in exchange of someone irreplaceable suddenly doesn't seem that much anymore. At least that's what he said to Ace. I think the same way."

Whitebeard easily agreed with that. He'd sacrifice his live for his children without a second thought too. In light of that, Straw Hat's way of 'only' sacrificing ten years was certainly nicer on all involved. He wondered if the kid had already lost a loved one with the way he had tried to make sure that Ace was alright as well as assuring him that he himself would be alright too. "So how is the brat now? Everyone is rather worried about him."

"No need to tell me, I think all of the second division came for a visit today." Marco smiled tiredly. With his father calling Ace's little brother a brat like usual, things were that tiny bit more normal again. "Straw Hat looks as good as dead. He's on ventilation and several other machines. He also hasn't moved at all. Ace thinks it's unnatural, that he isn't turning around. That more than anything has him on the edge all the time. It's probably like seeing his own personal hell nonstop. Ivankov injected some of his hormones before I left, so right now he actually is asleep for the first time since we boarded the submarine."

"Good thing he went along with that." Whitebeard muttered. His son had acquired some sense during his chase of Blackbeard.

"Again we have Straw Hat to thank for that. He'd be mad if Ace looked like death warmed over when he finally wakes up." Or maybe he hadn't after all.

"Gurararara. I wouldn't have thought Ace shared bonds like these with anyone. He's really got quite the hold on Ace, doesn't he?" Whitebeard smiled fondly.

"Without a doubt… and more than we know at that." Marco agreed all too easily and yawned.

"Well, go get some rest too. Thanks for keeping him company until now."

Marco however shook his head. "I'm heading back to the submarine. While Ace is better than I thought, I still don't think it's a good thing for him to be alone, not until his little brother wakes up again at least. There's no way he'll leave for more than a few minutes before that, just so you know."

"And also after that." Whitebeard grinned. He was looking forward to the moment the brat was finally up and about. The kid was sure to disrupt their usual routines quite nicely. He could tell that most of his children wanted to meet the one who'd had the guts to break into Impel Down and free one of theirs, ignoring all the consequences that would bring with it. Thoughtless indeed, he'd eat a whale if Straw Hat had even thought about the consequences his actions could cause.

…

"Mind the stairs here." Shachi whispered as he led the newcomer on board their ship. It was past midnight when the newcomer had arrived on the island and made straight for the Whitebeard's ship. The one on watch duty there had soon signed towards their ship, that someone was on the way.

Apparently he was from the revolutionary army and there to pick up Ivankov who was still in the infirmary. They sure worked fast. They hadn't even docked here for a day yet and already someone came to get their comrade.

Shachi wondered if Ivankov also slept in the infirmary with the others. None of the pirates who had come on board of the Thousand Sunny had stayed there, with the exception of Rayleigh who seemed fascinated by the ship. (It was a nice ship in his eyes, but he didn't know what made it so special to someone like Rayleigh.)

"Thank you." The other man followed him silently to the door of the infirmary.

"Keep in mind that most are sleeping in there, so if you have to talk, do it outside!" Shachi stressed the need for silence. Their captain had banned everyone from the ship before he went to bed after all. The only reason why he had led him here at this time of the night was the hope that he'd take the big faced revolutionist and leave the ship, before their captain's mood went sour.

The other one, apparently a rather polite fellow, nodded, thanked him again and vanished inside the room. Shachi listened for a moment at the door but didn't hear anything before he went back to finish his own watch duty. He'd almost made it up the stairs again when a loud scream went through the ship, alerting his crewmembers who were up in arms in a second.

…

The young man entered the makeshift guestroom where his colleague, Ivankov, was supposed to be watching over one of his allies, who was close to death (and hadn't that been a surprise when Dragon had appeared worried for Ivankov's friend). How this friendship or alliance had come to be was a mystery to him, but Ivankov was always one for surprises. Finding allies in the form of pirates and helping them for whatever reason was not that out of the ordinary, even if normal revolutionaries didn't do such things.

Much more uncommon was the fact that Ivankov had apparently specifically requested for Sabo to come and pick him up. That Dragon had agreed with him and had taken him of his next few scheduled missions only added to the mystery. He should be back long before the later ones started. Even if Ivankov insisted on waiting for his friend to wake up, it shouldn't take much more than one or two weeks at most. And yet Dragon had told him to take his time and that he expected a call sometime soon. He also had given him white Den Den Mushis without any explanation. What their eccentric leader was planning now was beyond him.

It was dark in the room, but the form of his comrade could be made out easily enough. His hair and his big face were too much of a giveaway even in the dim light. Still he would rather not stumble over cables and cause some expensive medical equipment to be destroyed. He quietly fumbled for the light switch and chuckled once his eyes got accustomed to the light. Ivankov was laying half on the bed, half on the ground, his hair had become entangled with one of the bedposts and his legs were fighting to get rid of the blanket but achieved the opposite instead.

"You never change, do you?" He murmured to himself. At the other side of the room one of the more famous Whitebeard Pirates was sleeping while two more people were lying on the bed in the middle. He took a step forward to get a better look at them. The taller one was wrapped around the smaller form, he could easily make out the freckles on the pale face. Fire Fist Ace, he'd seen him in the newspaper recently. He seemed sick, but the person Ivankov was apparently so worried about was the smaller one.

The smaller form was also a boy, his black hair was stuck to his face. He was covered in bandages and if he hadn't been on ventilation the blond would have assumed the boy was dead. His face (or what he could see of it) was as pale as a sheet and he wasn't moving at all, not even his chest appeared to be.

" _I'M GONNA BECOME -"_

The revolutionist blinked. For a moment it felt as if he had remembered something. He watched the figure of the boy more closely and for a second became unbalanced as he almost saw the face of someone in front of his eyes.

With a shaky hand he grabbed the bedpost to steady himself. His heart started to race as he stared at the still form of the smaller boy while his instincts screamed how wrong this picture was. It became difficult to breathe when his eyes landed on a threadbare straw hat he vaguely remembered seeing in newspapers. Nico Robin had joined the Straw Hat's crew… so did this mean this person was the crew's captain? Straw Hat Luffy…

" _You guys are gonna become pirates?"_

"Haaa-"

He took the hat with shaky hands and placed it on the too still form with wide eyes before the other form shifted and caught his attention.

" _If you exchange vows over a cup of sake with someone, you become brothers."_

"Waaaa-" Sabo gasped for breath as memories of two young boys came back. … Ace?

"Haaa-" he panted again. This was so wrong… Luffy, his brother was…

" _Being alone hurts worse than pain."_ His Luffy was dead?

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" He shouted, effectively waking up everyone in the room that wasn't unconscious, not that he cared right at this moment as images of two young boys flashed before his eyes and his vision blurred and gained a black border.

At once Ace shot up and shot a flame pillar towards Sabo who managed to doge instinctively. Luffy was pulled away from him and towards Ace who jumped out of the bed, while Marco inquired about his identity. Ivankov had fallen of the bed completely and was fighting to free himself and get up while calling something. Sabo however couldn't make sense of the words the others uttered. His eyes were glued to the unconscious form of the captain of the Straw Hats.

"Luffy…" He whispered as he took a shaky step towards the unconscious boy in Ace's arms. With a snarl Ace jumped back, unwilling to fight in such a cramped room filled with medical equipment, but also unwilling to let some stranger touch his brother. He did his best not to jostle him too much, but while moving Luffy several cables fell to the floor due to the movement and a single shrill sound filled the room, halting all of their movements. The machines keeping Luffy alive had been disconnected.

"Luffy!" Ace cried desperately.

Sabo's eyes widened at the sound and he turned towards one of the screen that now showed a flatline. He couldn't breathe anymore as more and more memories of his childhood flashed in front of his eyes. Blindly he reached for Luffy and almost fell but was steadied by Ivankov who had appeared at his side and was again saying something. His head pounded and the room began to spin. Ace… Luffy… his Luffy was… dead?

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!" Sabo's screamed again before his body gave in and he toppled over and fell towards the fire-man.

"Sabo!" Ivankov caught him and pulled him away from Ace and Luffy.

"Sabo?!" Ace couldn't believe his ears. His flames almost came back full force, only the knowledge that Luffy would be hurt kept him from losing it.

"What the hell is going on here?" Trafalgar Law demanded as he stepped through the destroyed door followed by Jean Bart and Shachi. The other Heart Pirates glanced inside as well. The distinct lack of visible danger calmed them down and weapons were lowered again before most retreated again or simply waited outside.

"Lay Straw Hat-ya down!" the surgeon ordered not even waiting for an answer. He surveyed the damage done to the room and glared at Ivankov who was holding another unconscious body. "And put that one in a bed as well!"

He checked over Straw Hat, connected all the machines again. It was a good thing none of them had taken any damage. And Straw Hat was lucky that Ace for all his idiocy had apparently taken great care of him despite removing him from his bed. As the ringing sound stopped the spell keeping everyone from moving also ended. Law nodded towards Ace to let him know Luffy was still as well as he could be.

His attention went back to the blond, whom Ivankov had just placed on the other bed. "Take of his shoes and put the blanket over him. He's sweating buckets! Most likely has a fever. Stop adding more work! I agreed to take care of Straw Hat and by extension Jinbe, not your whole crew!"

"He isn't one of the Whitebeard Pirates, he's one of my colleagues, Sabo."

"Is this a joke?!" Ace yelled. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Calm down! If you can't tell, Ivankov has been trying to help you!" Marco laid a hand on Ace's burning shoulder to keep him from acting rashly. As a phoenix he could easily deal with whatever Ace hit him with.

"If you burn down this room I will throw you into the ocean! Listen to Phoenix-ya!" Trafalgar Law almost lost his patience now. He'd had no problems dealing with anyone until now but being woken up by a scream and then finding parts of his ship destroyed and his work of several hours endangered killed any positive feelings he might have had otherwise.

"Ace, this isn't a joke." Ivankov said calmly. "This is my colleague Sabo, whom ve found ten years ago in East Blue at Dawn Island. Dragon saved him after one of the Tenryubito shot his boat. He awoke later on, with none of his memories, he didn't even know his name, but ve found it on a few of his items."

"So this is… our Sabo… our brother?" Ace felt as if someone had just ripped the rug from under his feet.

"That would explain the sudden fever at least. Well congratulations on finding your brother. Or brothers…" Trafalgar Law drawled, showing his mood.

He put a cold towel on the blond's forehead. "Change this frequently, he should be alright now. So is Straw Hat. Or at least he isn't worse than he was. Refrain from moving him again, no matter what. If something else comes up I'm not around to deal with it!" With that he left to let those involved deal with the drama. They'd better replace anything they had destroyed on his ship!

"I'm sorry, I didn't say anything before." Ivankov apologized quietly.

"You should be! Why didn't you say anything before?" Ace ground out, pushing Marco away.

"I didn't vant to give you false hope." Ivankov tried to placate and continued quickly. "Straw Hat-boy only told me that he was from East Blue. I couldn't be sure just from that so I didn't tell you anything. It would have hurt more to get your hopes up only to have them crushed again afterwards. I should have warned Sabo however."

Ace reluctantly conceded this point. If Ivankov had told them about Sabo and had been wrong it would have hurt Luffy… and him as well. And with Luffy only answering in the simplest way he didn't doubt that Ivankov had had no idea about them all coming from Dawn Island. On the opposite, it was almost a miracle that Ivankov had reacted as he had and made Sabo come here just because his name had fallen once. He didn't know whether to apologize, thank him or to laugh or cry. If the blond on the bed was truly their Sabo then all of his wishes still had a chance to come true. They'd be standing on the same ship, together, laughing and smiling and probably raiding the kitchens.

"Aren't you happy right now?" Marco asked with a smile.

"Ah… I think I am." He didn't even fight when Marco pulled him into a hug as his shoulders started to shake.

…

Sabo slept for three days straight. During these days he'd had an incredibly high fever that only let up around midday of the third day. While Sabo was processing long forgotten memories, Ace stood watch over Luffy and him as well now. Marco also hardly ever left his side (someone had to remind the second commander to eat and drink, it was one of those things Marco would have never imagined doing.)

Trafalgar Law once again proved just how capable a doctor he really was. The efficiency with which he took care of both Luffy and Sabo was nothing to laugh at. He accurately guessed the time around when Sabo most likely would wake up and Luffy was showing improvement as well. Color had returned to his cheeks and the wound was healing. Scars couldn't be avoided, but no permanent damage was done. He still was forbidden from bathing, but apparently he hated that anyway, so he might even be happy about that little fact. He had yet to move however. The surgeon expected him to start with that in two to three days, even if he wouldn't wake up yet.

"Where am I?" Sabo's raspy voice cut through the silence of the infirmary.

"In the ship of the Heart Pirates." Ace's voice came from Luffy's bedside. The calmness of his voice belied how he felt. For ten years Ace had believed Sabo was dead, had thought he'd never talk with him again. And now he was lying in a bed next to Luffy… and he didn't know how to feel, how Sabo was feeling, how he would react, how the other had changed. He had no idea how to talk to him. If Luffy was awake he was sure his little brother would know what to do.

At once Sabo stumbled out of the bed "Ace… Luffy! Is Luffy-"

Ace jumped up as well, steadying Sabo and pointed towards the unconscious boy. "He's not dead. He hasn't moved, but he looks a lot better. He will live, he still has to achieve his dream."

"He looked as if he had died." Sabo almost panicked again as he remembered the sound of whatever machine had been monitoring Luffy.

"Ah, I thought so too." Ace admitted then glared at Sabo. "It would have been the second time I lost a brother."

"I… I'm sorry." Sabo was at a loss. He had only just received his memories back. Every feeling he had from back then was still very fresh to him now. "Back then I saw no other way… I didn't even know how I thought before I woke up with the revolutionists. I only knew I felt caged. I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry you thought I died, I remember writing a letter to tell you I left, so you wouldn't worry."

"We got the letter, but we were also told that a Tenryubito shot you. I never wanted to feel that way again and then Luffy goes and breaks into Impel Down and gets hit when we escape. And now you suddenly reappear from the dead. I honestly felt like hitting you and beat you up good." Luckily he'd had Marco to talk with. He was extremely happy, but just as angry as well, which was never a good combination for him. He reacted violently when he was confused. But damn, Sabo should have taken them along as well! How could he have ever thought that leaving Luffy with him was a good idea? Luffy had had the ability to piss him off like no other back then. It had taken Luffy almost dying before to completely change this. Now there was no question about just how much he loved his brother.

Sabo had no trouble imagining Ace to react by hitting him. As a matter of fact, it was exactly what he had expected the other boy to do. Though Ace was no boy anymore, just like he himself was not ten anymore either. "I missed so much." The realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

"You did. We missed so much as well. It's the reason why Marco and Ivankov managed to make me change my mind about hitting you. We'd only be wasting time if we argued. Also I'd have to explain things to Luffy when he wakes up, if you ended up in the infirmary as well and I'm rather fond of my ears. You can explain yourself to him instead."

"Can't you at least soften the blow?" Sabo begged. He really didn't want to explain things to Luffy, especially not if the other hadn't gotten any warning. Ace had had a bit of time at least. The look Ace gave him told him his answer well enough.

"You thought it was a good idea to leave us. While I may not blame you for wanting to escape and getting hurt, that is still something you should have thought over!" Ace declared. "And really, what have you been thinking, leaving Luffy with me, when it was clear he liked you better and always came to you for help!"

Sabo smiled wistfully. "I'm not sure he will anymore. He's gonna be so angry. But I can't wait to see him awake again. I want to know how he changed. When I saw him I truly thought he was dead. And then that noise started and- Luffy is still our weakling-brother. We have to protect him, with all the shit he gets himself into… if you will let me help at least."

Sabo would have liked to appear more confident, but Luffy had been Ace's responsibility. He had left them and vanished for ten years. He wondered if he still had any right to call himself their brother, especially after forgetting all about them.

"You idiot!" Ace scolded and hit his head. "You better make up the lost ten years! It's too good to have you back to worry about shitty things. For ten years both Luffy and I wanted you to be back, do you really think I'd not accept you now?"

"Sorry." Sabo furiously wiped the tears that made their way down his face now away.

"Ah! Stop crying!" Ace shouted and ignored Sabo's protests of "I'm not"

"It's bad enough Luffy always cries! You didn't have to change like that!" Sabo laughed, the older Ace was just as bad at dealing with tears as the younger one had been, especially so if he was emotional himself.

…

* * *

...

Alright, another more serious chapter. I wasn't too sure about Sabo's scenes. In my eyes it's not too far-fetched that he would regain his memories when he actually sees Luffy in that kind of state. After all, the news of Ace's death were enough to make him remember in the original story, so seeing that for himself...

This chapter was quite a bit longer than the other ones, so hope you don't feel like I could have scratched half of it.

 **What's up next?** I'm not too sure about the talk with Ivankov and Rayleigh anymore. I actually planned on having Sabo tell him about it in this chapter (it would have added exactly 298 more words right where this chapter ended - I would have actually skipped all the talking). As for why: retelling the original story might be rather boring and I'm not sure I want to do it just to see Ace worry about his little brother when everything is already over anyway. So it has to come up in some form, the question is how and who is involved. None of the real Straw Hats are there so anyone who is well informed could give him the information – and Ivankov did tell him about Impel Down already.

 **What do you think about this?**

I'll finally arrive at one of my plot bunnies (a funny little scene that suddenly popped up in my head and wouldn't leave me alone). Just hope I won't butcher it, because I love how that scene looks in my head. – The first encounter between the Whitebeard Pirates and Luffy (at least in a way). And some more visits to the Whitebeards are in order too. And maybe I'll finally get to the 'present time' for real.

 **Anyway, I'm always glad for suggestions and reviews! So tell me what you thought about this chapter!** **Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings/Notes:**

 **1)** Yay, finished another chapter (finally) and it's even longer than the last one (even though I removed a scene with Whitebeard and Ace), since no one complained. The first half of this chapter was rather annoying to write and I rewrote the whole thing several times (again). Then Hancock appeared and I was like: OMG, I can't write her, but luckily she was easier to write than expected.

 **2)** **Find some mistakes** (also **grammar** and **spelling** mistakes)? Please point them out, so I can get rid of them.

 **3)** Like always: Boys love alert in case of (two-sided) romance – don't like don't read!

 **Disclaimer** : One Piece belongs to Oda and (probably) several companies!

 **Thank you for your encouragement and your help to keep me going *bows*:**

 **Destrark** , **Lightningblade49** , **Neo Rulez** , **Guest** , **GreenDrkness** , **DragonFire Princess** , **bloodyredfox** , **9momentos** , **gabrielsangel23** , **SoulMore** , **OfMoonsAndStars** , **yuriko . hueixin** , **KHR-Yunalesca** , **Black' Victor Cachat** , **DMCP** , **The Richmaster** , **pull harder** , **N** , **Nala1220** , **MissSexyRain** , **myanimeobsession**

 **And now on with the story**

…

* * *

 **Chapter 6 (Of visitors and awakenings)**

* * *

…

Sabo winced as he sat down next to a sleeping Luffy once again, after Trafalgar Law had at last relented and allowed him and Ace back onto his ship. His left arm hurt from the burns he had received and he had a few bruises all over his body. Ace hadn't fared any better. He didn't have any burns or blisters, obviously, but more bruises than him. He sighed as the rest of the tension left his body.

The last day had been an emotional roller coaster for all of them. He and Ace had connected again right away. The bonds in Sabo's case reappeared almost instantly, while for Ace they had never vanished in the first place. Both of them, even though they had changed, could still see their younger selves in each other. They were brothers no matter how much time had passed. Talking about their childhood for hours and reveling in each other's presence did a world of good for them.

A lot of Whitebeard Pirates had appeared at one point, apparently most belonged to Ace's division and had been visiting every day. Then some other division commanders joined. Later Marco and Ivankov came back and a little while later Rayleigh and Jinbe decided to join them too and see how Luffy was doing.

Soon after everyone had settled down, Ace had started to bombard them with questions about Luffy's adventures after Alabasta and forced them to recount what had happened ever since. Between the six of them they probably got most of the Straw Hat's journey ever since Luffy had started out on Dawn Island. At one point even Trafalgar Law, who had come for a routine check-up, joined them and told them in detail about how they met in the auction house and what had happened there before Rayleigh appeared. Luffy must have made quite the impression then. There was no doubt about this being at least part of the reason why the captain of the Heart Pirates had went out of his way to save a rival.

Since the Revolutionary Army was keeping an eye on Nico Robin most of what had happened wasn't exactly new to Sabo. However, it was one thing to read about some crazy pirate crew stirring things up (and declaring war on the World Government among other idiocies), and an entirely different thing to realize all those stories were about his own weakling baby brother. Honestly, it made Sabo sick with worry just thinking about all the shit Luffy had gotten in and out of, he didn't even need to look at Ace's face to see just how much worse it was for him, when he hadn't been aware of anything yet.

With their emotions already running high, this added a new layer on of stress top of everything. So it wasn't really a surprise to him when everything peaked as Ivankov once again recounted Luffy's time in Impel Down. Those news _hurt_. Now that he remembered it was impossible to imagine a world without the teen running around and causing havoc left and right. When Ace then asked whether or not Sabo hated him now, he had leashed out and punched him with a haki coated fist for being such an idiot. All three brothers would have done the exact same thing for each other after all.

What followed was a haze, he only remembered the two destroying a few things in the infirmary before the surgeon made good on his promise and dropped them into the ocean. That didn't stop their fight however (after he dragged Ace on land at least). Both of them were too high strung to stop. To them this was a normal reaction, the same they'd had hundreds of times as kids. With the big difference that as kids they didn't have as much power, didn't fight with haki and lacked a certain devil fruit.

Maybe looking for some other kind of outlet would be better in the future. But for today he didn't regret hammering some sense into Ace for being such a hypocrite. Ace in turn yelled at him for being a hypocrite himself, since he hadn't even allowed Luffy and Ace to do anything for him ten years ago. For someone who had second guessed his own existence from the moment he learned to understand, being left behind by his brother must have been all the answer he needed. As a corollary of this Luffy's very existence must have become like a lifeline to Ace. Remembering again and listening to everything together with Ace… no, it truly was not surprising at all that they both had needed to calm down, badly.

Afterwards Sabo was hurt, but he felt a lot lighter and Ace could let loose as well, which was definitely better than letting anything fester. With Ace it was always better to get him to let loose right away, especially when he was already stressed. And for once Sabo had needed it just as badly, even if he could do without the pain.

The blond winced once more when he thought about how Luffy would react once he woke up. He just prayed it would be different with his younger brother. Sabo doubted he would be able raise a hand against him outside of a spar, which would probably infuriate Luffy even more.

When they made their way back to the infirmary (both looking like shit) their way was blocked by one pissed of captain.

"You think you can just barge in after the damage you caused just before?" The surgeon inquired deadly calm.

"We'll pay for whatever was destroyed!" Ace exclaimed.

"We just want to check on Luffy." Added Sabo.

"Oh? So now you suddenly care again, after you destroyed parts of the equipment Straw Hat-ya needs to stay alive and breathing?" Both paled as they remembered just why there had been so many devices and monitors.

"Is… is Luffy alright?" Ace swallowed.

"Yes, no thanks to the two of you." Trafalgar Law certainly didn't hold back when he was angry. And he knew just how to dish out to keep them shut up. "It's the second time you put him in danger, the first I could understand, this time however you went too far. I don't want you on my ship again anytime soon!"

"But Luffy-"

"Is better off without any of you right now, lest he catches an infection." Law easily interrupted their protests. "Did you actually care to take a look at your state? I am tired of your moping around Fire Fist-ya. You broke my rules more than once, so I am not leaving you a choice right now."

"You can't do this!" Ace panicked as flames reappeared on his fists.

"Attack once more and I'll ban you for good." Law ruled calmly, a room forming around the submarine.

Sabo shuddered, sure they'd have made Trafalgar Law mad enough to either just drop Luffy outside, or just up and leave with his patient, if it hadn't been for the other few guests, who stopped them before they could act rashly once again. Sabo wasn't as prone to it as Ace was, but Luffy was special and both of them weren't in their right state of mind.

"Stop causing more problems!" Ivankov scolded them.

"But he'll not let me see how Luffy is doing!" Ace argued.

"No doctor would with you two looking like this." Rayleigh said gesturing at their bodies. He'd enjoyed watching their fight. Both of them were excellent fighters, even if their brains weren't working once an injured Luffy was involved,a s they just proved.

"We'd like to check on him!" Sabo almost begged and Marco smacked both their heads.

"I'd not let you in either, if this was my ship and you're looking shitty like this. You really should be grateful for all the stuff Trafalgar Law put up with from you. Even Oyaji wouldn't have said anything against it if the Heart Pirates left now."

"Good to know." The surgeon smirked.

"That's not saying we'd not follow. Ace would drive us crazy enough within the hour." Informed the first division commander.

"HEY!" Yelled Ace.

"No doubt about that." Law deadpanned.

"You can't blame us for it." Defended Sabo.

"Either way, you two get out now! Shower, bandages, food and maybe then you can beg your way onto the sub again." Marco ordered after a moment of silence. Wasn't Sabo supposed to be the reasonable brother? Then again, Ace's definition of reasonable probably wasn't what anyone else would expect.

Without waiting for a reply he dragged them out to give the Surgeon of Death some space on his own ship. "If you cause any more problems you can explain yourself to Oyaji." Marco scowled as Ace started to burn up.

Half an hour later Sabo hurried back to the submarine, freshly showered (his hair was dripping wet to prove), bandaged (he'd been in a hurry, so they probably would fall off soon and he couldn't find anything for his blisters) and rested – okay not rested, he'd paced in front of the submarine for a few minutes until the bear took pity on him, apologized and let him in. One glance from the doctor reminded him, he'd better be on his best behavior.

"Ace was here a few minutes ago." Rayleigh smirked. Sabo wasn't the only one who had reached his limit when it came to Luffy-free-time. "He went to see Whitebeard though."

Sabo was honestly glad that Dragon wasn't here to scold him. Luffy, according to Ivankov, was his son (he'd been more than just shocked when the other revolutionist told him his initial main reason for making sure Luffy was alright) and he'd surly not be happy with Sabo for endangering him due to loss of control. Not that the man had much room to argue, since he left his own son with Garp.

He nodded distractedly, his attention on the sleeping figure of his brother.

"The ventilation is gone."

"Yeah, if you worry, it's not one of the things you destroyed. Law thinks Luffy might wake up soon and doesn't need it anymore." Said Rayleigh.

He leant down over Luffy's face and sure enough, his little brother was breathing steadily. Without a word he sat back down and held his hand.

…

It took a while longer for Ace to return with Marco, Ivankov and Jinbe in tow. Apparently Ace hadn't spent all that much time with Whitebeard, however he had visited the kitchen for an extended time, and roped the others into helping him to bring a mountain of food for them back into the infirmary. Half of it had to be deposited elsewhere, the table was just too small for everything.

"He's still breathing." Law reminded as Ace once again checked Luffy for any changes. "He's the same as he has been half an hour ago. Also I'm rather fond of a clean room, so I have half the mind to make you eat outside of my ship."

Ace ignored for a moment him and pulled the sheets up to Luffy's neck, then kissed his forehead. He'd considerably calmed down when he'd checked on Luffy, before going to inform Oyaji of his brother's improvement.

Then he bowed to the bewildered surgeon "I'm sorry for before. Thank you for helping my brother. I'll promise to clean everything up, but please let us eat in here. I really want to stay here right now."

"… Fine." Law conceded. "Make sure it doesn't happen again. Also you'll clean until I am satisfied."

"What? Ace! Since when are you this polite?" Sabo exclaimed shocked.

"Well, I had to learn how to thank people properly for taking care of him when you went missing!" Ace glared and yelled back defensively.

"… I never knew you'd be able to manage it."

As the two got into some sort of argument Marco decided it would be too bad if the food cooled down and would be wasted so he quickly took a plate filled with some of his most favorite dishes. The other's also liked the idea of good food while being entertained by two squabbling brothers. By the looks of it they truly did try to make up for ten years.

Just as Marco thought he couldn't be any more amused by the brother's antics he bit onto empty air.

"That was mine, Ace!" He bellowed automatically.

"What do you mean?" Ace turned to him, saw him munching and shrieked offended. "WHAT?!"

"That's our food!" Sabo bellowed as he too turned towards them and saw them happily eating their dishes. Naturally they didn't waste any more time and joined them, fighting for their food with the others, just like they'd done as kids.

"Steal from my plate again and I'll have you do all the food and water logistics the moment we're back on the Moby." Marco bit out and was subsequently left alone. The man didn't eat all that much anyway.

The only one who was too skilled to be stolen from was Rayleigh. He'd cleaned his plate in no time and then had leant back and laughed when most of the mountain disappeared from the table without anyone else being any wiser as to how it happened. Law joined him in watching with a grin.

"I didn't expect things to get this lively." He commented. "Though I should have known, Straw Hat-ya has caused trouble wherever he went after all."

"Yeah. I was told as much." He laughed as Marco's pasta vanished before he could eat any of it.

"I warn-" Marco stopped abruptly perceiving a long arm escaping with his plate. Too shocked he couldn't do anything but stare as everything vanished within a second. Slowly he held out another plate, which was quickly taken out of his hands as well and gulped down. Then the hand came back for more.

A second later the angry screech of "Sabo!" could be heard, as another dish was wolfed down by the one person no one expected to be the culprit (though he guessed he should have). The boy on the bed still had his eyes closed, his nose wrinkled ever so slightly before his hands stretched out and grabbed the next plate, right under the blond revolutionist's nose who was holding his hands up to show he didn't have anything to do with Ace's missing food just now.

"Wha-" Ace's eyes had followed the arms back now as well. Any annoyance vanished that very second and he jumped up, almost causing the table to fall over. "Luffy!" He whooped and ran over to his brother who hadn't responded at all. A bit confused and unsure he poked the teen's cheek, sure that he would splutter and shout at him for disturbing his chewing.

Luffy only snored slightly and wrinkled his nose again before grabbing a piece of meat Jinbe was holding out for him, to see if he'd take it.

"Do tell me…" Sabo started with bulging eyes.

"He's still sleeping." Law smirked.

Ace groaned. "Only Luffy would find a way to sleep and eat."

"Does this mean he would have eaten faster if we'd taken the ventilation off sooner?" Marco wanted to know. He watched fascinated as Ivankov started to throw some pieces into the kid's direction. All of them were caught, without him ever opening his eyes.

"No. He was unconscious before. He went to sleeping straight away, so it was safe to remove it then." The surgeon explained. "I suppose he became aware of the smell now. His metabolism is extraordinary fast. This… _talent_ saves me a bit of trouble actually."

"Say Ace… he wasn't joking about the sharks, was he?" Jinbe queried.

"None of us joke about food." Ace declared.

"It's good to see him back in action. I vas vondering about that. He ate so much in Impel Down after all. Straw Hat-boy will surly get better now. HEE HAA!" Ivankov rejoiced. "I think ve should call Dragon sometime soon now."

Sabo hummed absently.

By this time Luffy had finished his small snack. His stomach growled to let everyone know he wasn't satisfied yet. It dawned on Marco that Ace probably hadn't been kidding or exaggerating when he had requested some Sea Kings, as in more than one. He already felt sorry for their chefs. If they couldn't feed him Ace was sure to blow a fuse. On the positive side however he would love to see the looks on his crewmates' faces when the little enigma finished their food before they had the chance to take a bite. It was dinner time soon and maybe he'd even manage to steal from some of the other commanders.

"Is it safe to move us to the mess now, yoi? It doesn't seem as if Ace's little brother is satisfied yet. Neither is anyone else." Marco asked innocently and Law snorted in amusement as he nodded.

Rayleigh chuckled. "They have some healthy appetites."

"Your idea of healthy is questionable." Law informed him and surrounded them by a room. "Either way, I'm glad to be be rid of all the trouble on my ship."

Soon after the group was found sitting in the mess hall, watching Ace argue with the cooks, because they refused to feed him more until the others at least had their share. The other crewmates watched and laughed at the spectacle, finding it funny that Ace wouldn't back down, even though he had just gotten a wagonload less than half an hour ago.

Meanwhile Luffy was securely held in place by Sabo who was sitting next to him and watching with a fond expression as his little brother pilfered plate after plate and wolfed down anything edible within his impossible reach. Ivankov piled the plates up on the floor beside their table, chuckling all the while.

"How long do you think it'll take them to realize their food is missing?" Rayleigh questioned with a glint in his eyes.

"They're quite taken by Ace's performance. Wanna make a bet?" Sabo grinned.

"5000 Beri on five minutes. They can't be that stupid, to not notice us by then. Also I bet Straw Hat finishes another thirty plates." Jinbe joined.

Marco watched how close Luffy came to come into contact with some of the others in his path to food. "I don't think he can eat too much anymore, but at least more than thirty, probably forty. And sorry, but they totally can be that ignorant. I say until one of them stabs Luffy by accident."

Sabo's eyes darkened and promised pain. He hugged Luffy closer, wiping his mouth while his brother's hands had stretched to reach the next plate (and briefly wondered whether or not Luffy's aim would have improved faster as kids if they'd used food as incentive). "Luffy won't get hurt! No, I think someone will finally become aware of the rest of us, because we're too loud. Also this is Luffy we are talking about! He has some more meals to make up for and these plates are small. I say eighty."

"Your first guess only counts if you don't make any noise! I say Ace vill tell them it's for us and point here." Ivankov moved the plates onto the table so people would notice them faster, then started a new pile, so they could count. "Straw Hat-boy is a monster, but I don't think he can eat more than fifty." Ivankov guessed.

"I'm in." Trafalgar Law smirked. "I say until Ace stops shouting. I also think it'll be less. Forty-five"

Rayleigh laughed. "Someone else will come in and bring attention towards us. And I guess somewhere around sixty-five plates. If our first bets are wrong then the one whose guess was closest to the number of plates he finished wins, alright?" Everyone agreed and did their best to keep as inconspicuous as possible.

"ACE!" Someone shrieked not even two minutes later. "What did you do with my food?!"

…

On the deck of the Moby Dick there was chaos. A battleship had just emerged besides them, catching the Whitebeard Pirates on duty completely off guard. For some very tense moments they expected a few more battleships to appear right behind them, but there was no other ship following and no other movement could be made out under water.

Oyaji had given them the order to sink any Marine ship in sight (they had already sunken a few) but the way this one appeared stunned too many so their reaction was delayed. By the time they were ready to attack they realized that no one had attacked them yet. There was a distinct lack of movement on the ship. On closer look most of the guys appeared to be frozen, though Aokiji was nowhere in sight.

Instead two women of varying heights were arguing about something while some other women were standing nearby smiling at the scene in front of them until the taller one snapped and kicked the older woman into the water in a show of bad manners. Not at all repentant the taller women straightened and looked around.

"Hey, hey! That's not how you're supposed to treat your elders!" Yelled one of the more foolish Whitebeard Pirates.

"It doesn't matter. I will be forgiven." The tall beauty declared and smiled sweetly at them. "After all, I am beautiful."

Almost all Whitebeard and Heart Pirates agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"I'd say it's an honor to meet you, Shichibukai Boa Hancock, but that would be a lie and Oyaji doesn't like liars." Izo came to see what was going on. "Oyaji! Shall we sink it?"

"I'd prefer if you would not." The tall woman responded calmly and at once Izo was scolded for his cruel heart by his crewmates.

"It can wait." Oyaji's voice carried over the deck, bringing his sons back to their senses. "I would like to know what the government sent you here for. Though I don't like fighting a woman I will not hesitate to kill you, if you pose a danger to my sons." The man took a hold of his weapon as she made her way onto their ship, uninvited. The Shichibukai had been called upon to fight him, he'd not hand Ace over to any of them.

"Stop with your accusations! As if I'd allow the government to dictate my actions like this! I'm certainly not here for any of your crew." She snapped. "According to the newspaper Straw Hat Luffy was seen with you. Also it's his ship over there." She pointed towards the Thousand Sunny, who was still anchored behind Whitebeard's fleet.

"We'll not hand over Straw Hat!" Came the call from the deck and Izo prepared to fight the woman who could ensnare almost all of them. He'd still like to know her reason for coming here before engaging in a fight however.

"What do you even want from Straw Hat?" It was Penguin who voiced the question.

"So he is here!" Her whole demeanor changed almost instantly and a gentle smile made its way onto her face. In that instant she truly did look beautiful.

"So, tell me where he is!" She demanded a second later of the man.

"On our ship." Shachi answered readily, his cheeks having gained a red tint.

"And what do you want from Straw Hat Luffy? Is the World Government that desperate, they'd try to get him with the help of a single Shichibukai?" Whitebeard slammed the blunt end of his bisento down.

"Do not presume to know anything about my motives!" She pointed her finger at him and stared, showing no respect at all. "There is no need to worry about the government finding out anything from me. All the Marines on board of this ship have been turned into stone. I merely took it because some people" she stared at the one who was being helped out of the water now, "were concerned about having our ship seen near the Whitebeard Pirates."

"So the World Government isn't behind you being here?" Bepo wanted clarification.

He was rewarded with a withering glare. "I am not their dog! I appeared at Marineford, as requested. If the Marines are too incompetent to go through with their own plans then it's of no concern to me. However with them targeting Luffy, there's no way I'll stand by! Now stop delaying and tell me where he is, you furry beast!"

As Bepo apologized and was scolded in turn Whitebeard still didn't move an inch. He remembered Ace mentioning something about having met the Pirate Empress. And shortly after the brat had appeared out of nowhere. Did that mean she had something to do with Luffy? "I heard from Ace you came to see him in Impel Down. Does his little brother have anything to do with it?"

"Luffy wanted to save his brother, so we went there for a visit. I take it, Ace managed to get back safely." At his nod she exhaled relieved. "Good. Luffy must be so glad then." Needless to say most of both crews were split in between melting at the sight and burning to kill their commander for all the worry this beauty went through because of Ace – with apparently no one comprehending that the actual person the woman was concerned about was Luffy and Ace only by extension.

"They ran into a few problems during their escape, so Straw Hat is still unconscious. The captain of the Heart Pirates took care of him." Izo finally revealed to her under the venom filled glares of the other Whitebeard Pirates.

"What? Luffy has been hurt?!" The shocked cry didn't even come from the Empress this time, but one of her crew members. All of them looked upset by these news. So Straw Hat Luffy – a man, as far as anyone knew – had managed to become friends with the men-hating Kuja Pirates, or at least made them his allies. How that had happened was anyone's guess. It was just one more thing adding to the mystery Ace's younger brother represented.

"We'll take you to him if you want." Volunteered Penguin.

"He's getting better every day." Shachi was quick to assure her so she wouldn't look as sad anymore. Both wanted to strangle the Straw Hat captain for making the Empress sad. How nice it was to get her attention!

"Then hurry!" She roared angrily. How dare these men waste her time while her Luffy needed her!

"Actually they are here now. Your captain moved them here so they could eat." Whitebeard finally understood where the woman was coming from and chuckled. One more wrapped around some rubbery fingers. He looked at his sons and wondered how many of them would be swayed to his side as well.

"Captain doesn't eat in our sub?" Shachi blinked.

"No. Luffy started to eat and they didn't have enough over there." Whitebeard chuckled.

"You didn't give him enough food?!" Hancock gasped and at once ordered her crew to hurry. She needed to check up on her beloved right now.

…

"Luffy~~" A female voice, which sounded entirely alien at the moment (after all, the women from their crew were just being picked up), could be heard from outside the mess hall. A moment later the door opened and emitted several scantily clad women to the joy of the men. Amongst them was one, who many recognized as the most beautiful woman on earth, the Shichibukai Boa Hancock. It truly spoke for her beauty that no one attacked her right away, even though she was on the government's side.

Ignoring all the foolish men she looked around the mess hall until her eyes stopped at a table on the left side where Portgas D Ace was currently busy shaking the live out of someone who started to look green. She glared at the men before her eyes moved towards the munching pirate captain. Then her face lit up in a smile, making most men forget everything around them.

"Aaah! Luffy-kun! I'm so happy to see you're alright!" The empress swooned as she got closer. "I heard you got hurt!"

The captain didn't respond, but his arms reached past her and grabbed a plate from one of the tables behind her.

"I'm sorry to say, but he's not awake yet." Sabo told her over the noise of yet another howl from one of the many whose dinner had been stolen. "It seems he was dying to eat still. He was unconscious for the last week."

The Shichibukai nodded in understanding and glanced at the stacks of plates. "Of course, he must eat more! How long was he unconscious?"

"That's hardly the problem now!" Gloriosa scolded.

"It's been a while, Gloriosa." Rayleigh greeted the old Lady with a smile.

"Rayleigh!" The Gorgon sisters cheered. "You're on the Whitebeard Pirates ship?"

"Only for a while. Your timing is too bad though, if you'd have arrived a moment earlier, I'd have won my bet." Rayleigh sighed.

"You cheated! You knew ve had visitors!" Ivankov accused heatedly.

"What do you expect? I'm a pirate after all!" Laughed Rayleigh.

Meanwhile Hancock was busy demanding another pirate's untouched dinner, which was given to her without complaint. Then she held it out for Luffy to take whose arms indeed stretched for it a second later. As her food was accepted she spun around unable to look at her beloved any longer. "Aaah~, Luffy-kun must be famished!" A moment later she pointed at some of her crewmembers "Hurry up! He needs to make up for at least thirty meals!"

"Famished…?" Haruta's eyes bulged. Their _guest_ had snitched half of the pirate's dinners already (and to his shame he had to admit their lack of attention. No one had realized their missing food until Ace had been accused.)

"Thirty? He's only been out for about a week!" Curiel cried.

"Prepare him a snack for in between!" Hancock ignored them and ordered the love-stricken cooks around as some of her own crewmates ran back outside.

"How can you not be prepared for my Luffy-kun?!" She scolded as the cooks took too long in her opinion.

"I don't believe there can be enough preparation for that pit." Ivankov muttered.

"Too true." Marco agreed.

"It's not that bad." Sabo smiled and was rewarded with a happy smile from the Empress – and many jealous glares from jealous pirates.

A moment later the door opened again and several more Kuja Pirates brought steaming pieces of Sea King on several trays inside.

Ran and Daisy cleaned the plate piles away and put the trays in front of Luffy whose nose wrinkled again before he dug into the Sea King meat.

"Well this certainly saves us some problems." Ace commented, sitting down on the other side of Luffy.

"The food is only for Lu-" She turned around to chew whoever dared to presume to get even a bite of Luffy's dinner out and came face to face with Ace. "Ace!" Her tone once again changed completely. "It's good to see you under better circumstances."

"Boa Hancock." He bowed. "Thank you for taking care of my brother."

She blushed and turned around. "Well of course~! I need to take care of my Luffy~~"

Ace and Sabo threw each other bemused looks. _Her_ Luffy? Neither of them believed Luffy would agree with this claim.

"Ace are you hungry too?" She asked as she gestured for another tray to be brought to the table for Ace.

"Ah! If only you had come a little later, I'd have won our bet!" bemoaned Sabo as a smirking Trafalgar Law was handed several Beri bills.

"Too bad, it's my win, though you probably would have won, if it wasn't for some external help." The smirk on the surgeon's face widened.

"You bet on Luffy?" Ace raised his eyebrows.

"Of course. No one here truly knows how he is. It'd have been easy money." Then Sabo thanked the Shichibukai as he ripped of a huge chunk and dug in. The others also went for it.

"IT'S ONLY FOR LUFFY AND HIS BROTHER!" She roared.

"Just how much do you think that small kid can pack?!" Blenheim protested loudly.

"Oh, Sabo's our brother too!" Ace grinned at her in between bites.

"I- is that so?" She stammered then sat down next to Sabo. "Fine, eat as much as you want, so long Luffy won't go hungry!"

"You should share with us all!"

"He won't ever be able to finish this all!" Someone else agreed.

"Are you sure? Want to make a bet on how much he eats?" Sabo smiled, the perfect image of innocence.

"Ace is not allowed to join!" Someone else yelled as many joined and bet several bills on how much the little monster would manage to devour.

"So how long are you staying" Rayleigh laughed watching the proceeding.

"Are you perhaps… Rayleigh?" Hancock beamed at him.

"Slow!" Gloriosa ranted as Rayleigh laughed even more. "Is this how you treat a person who saved your life?!"

"We wanted to know how Luffy was doing." Sandersonia answered his question.

"We've seen him now, so we should leave sometime soon." Gloriosa announced.

"No one asked you to come along." Hancock retorted. "You can leave on your own. We'll stay until Luffy wakes up and decides what he wants to do now."

Marco felt like hitting his head, watching the chaos in the mess hall. Some of the crew were arguing with the cooks for more food, some others were about to be ripped off by Sabo, who had the time of his life accepting bets from his gullible crewmates, who knew nothing about Sabo's and Luffy's relation while some other's watched the Shichibukai with hearts in their eyes.

And the one who had caused all this chaos was sleeping and munching on his third giant piece of meat. Without a doubt Sabo would have won their bet, with room to spare. The younger D. was impressive indeed. Once everyone had realized just who ate their food and the state he was in, they stopped complaining (Haruta even offering his plate to see just how fast it'd vanish). Another one had foolishly tried to hit him for not appreciating dinner properly, no one said anything as Ace dealt out the _proper_ punishment. Everyone should have enough brains to know just how big a brother complex the second division commander had and that Luffy was off-limits. The brighter ones already noticed how Sabo's eyes also promised retribution.

He was glad when Vista's hand landed on his shoulder. "I feel sorry for you." At least someone understood. "But you have to admit, he is funny." Vista pointed to Straw Hat and laughed as the boy hit Ivankov's hand as he tried stealing some of his dinner.

"You don't even find it a little bit strange? The Kuja Pirates of all crews are here on our ship, when it's well known just how few women we have, with none of them being allowed to fight? Revolutionists as well, when they are known to fight both pirates and Marines alike. And all just because of the kid over there eating his weight twenty times over? Next you'll tell me there's another Yonko here for him, yoi."

"Amazing, ain't he?" Vista smiled cheerfully. "His brother aside, he has a lot of fans on our crew as well. Of course the second division, but did you see John before? When the brat stole his food he actually laughed at it, he wasn't the only one either."

"I fear for our crew when he wakes up."

"It'll be hilarious." Vista predicted.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's going to be even more chaotic, yoi. Just look at everything now, how much worse will it get when he wakes up? Let's pray he's really only making up for missed meals now or Ace's request for Sea Kings will be a daily necessity. One thing is for sure, we'll have our work cut out."

"And yet I don't hear you complaining. You already have a soft spot for him." Marco scowled, unable to deny anything.

"So do you." He bit back.

"Of course. Most of the other commanders have too. Oyaji said he believes without Straw Hat things would have gone a lot worse and Rayleigh agrees. It's hard to think otherwise when those two come to the same conclusion. And if not for anything else, the others like him for the trouble he caused the Marines. A lot more crews made for the Grand Line and they have their hands full." Vista grinned. "Serves those bastards right."

All Whitebeard agreed here. Any damage the Marines suffered was well deserved, after all, they had tried to start a war with them. It was only right that it came back to bite them in their asses.

"Yeah, but Straw Hat-"

"Oh right, you don't know, do you? Oyaji already ordered for someone to keep a watch on him, until the brat can deal with his enemies on his own again. The rise in his bounty made him interesting for New World veterans and until Rayleigh deems him ready he's under Oyaji's protection." Vista updated him. "Again, all agreed, some actually looking forward to this duty."

"Let me guess, you're amongst them, yoi." Marco remarked.

"Indeed. It's too bad Ace will have first dibs and then those who get along with Straw Hat best. Rayleigh cautioned us. The brat won't be too happy, if he gets the feeling we're protecting him. Rayleigh reckons there won't be any problems with visits however, so long as we help out with Straw Hat's training." Vista grabbed a plate and stole a few things from a tray the female pirates had brought. The brat was finally slowing down so it should be fine.

"Doesn't sound like such a bad idea. We'd also stay in shape. Also Rayleigh is sure to be an interesting task master." Marco snatched a melon from his plate.

"I'm looking forward to some haki-pointers from him." Vista admitted. "Rayleigh is quite good with a blade, even if he doesn't call himself a swordsman"

"I like the idea, yoi. With his new bounty it'd be difficult for him at the moment. I'm also sure some of the revolutionists, or Sabo at the very least, will keep an eye on him as well." Marco pondered. "Does that mean Oyaji has given up on making Straw Hat one of his sons?"

"Don't count on it. I think it's more of a 'the brother of my son is my son as well' kind of thing." Vista roared with laughter as Marco's head did hit the table then.

"Does that mean Sabo is also his son?" He wondered.

"Right, I heard some rumors about that. Is it true? This blond really is Ace's second brother?" Vista pointed to Sabo.

"Aye. They both thought he'd died when they were kids. He got into an accident and forgot everything and only remembered when he was called here by Ivankov and thought Luffy had died." Marco summarized.

"So that's the story behind it. Must have been quite the wake up call." Vista sympathized. "And the poor brat, doesn't even know he's being taken care of by his dead brother yet."

"I advise you to be around when he finally wakes up for real. Sabo is looking forward to it and dreading the moment in equal parts. Whatever will happen, it sure will be entertaining, yoi." The blond snickered as the revolutionist whooped and collected his winnings. Straw Hat Luffy had finally stopped eating.

"He cheated, brothers aren't allowed to bet." The swordsman objected, even though he hadn't bet.

"Pirates." Marco grinned.

…

 **One day later / eight days after the breakout**

Though he tried to move to the main deck quickly, that didn't mean much. The rubber-teen seemed dead bent on making sure his source of warmth couldn't get away from him again and decided to limit his movements by putting his legs around his waist, several times. He almost felt like a cocoon.

With some difficulty he moved forwards patting his brother's head. "You're not making this easy, you know. Don't you wanna meet Ace?"

He hadn't expected any answer, but Luffy nestled his head between his shoulder and neck, then sniffed and murmured "Shabo."

He jolted again and hugged Luffy tighter. "Yeah…" he croaked, voice filled with emotion.

Ignoring all the bewildered looks he got, and also the laughter of some pirates, he finally reached the deck, where Ace was already hurrying towards him with Jinbe and Marco following just behind. Someone must have informed them.

Ace was torn between laughing at the picture Sabo made (he looked a bit like a caterpillar) or worry about why he would have thought it was a good idea to carry Luffy here. Law had made it clear before, that Luffy should not be moved around yet.

Once he noticed the tears on Sabo's worry won and he bombarded his brother with questions. Had something happened? Was Luffy alright? Was he hurt? Had Luffy reopened his wound?

"Breath" Jinbe reminded as he stepped up behind the freckled man. "Let the poor guy answer."

"You're crying!" Ace yelled worried.

"I'm not!" Sabo denied, even as he was unable to wipe his tears away due to holding Luffy.

"Then what happened?!" Ace demanded anxious.

"Luffy woke up. But he's sleeping again now." Sabo readjusted Luffy who had reacted to Ace's voice.

"THAT'S NO REASON TO CRY!" Ace yelled then grinned brightly. His shouting attracted several of his crewmates, who curiously assembled at some distance around them to watch more or less discreetly.

"He said my name!" Sabo sniffled.

"What? He recognized who you are?!" Ace couldn't believe this.

"No… he was asleep, but he said my name." Sabo clarified and Ace blinked several times.

"The kid really has good instincts." Marco whistled. "I'll go get Trafalgar Law, he also said he wants to know when Straw Hat wakes up."

"So he really was awake?" Ace breathed deeply.

"Just a few minutes ago." Sabo nodded.

"That's too bad, but he'll wake up again soon, I'm sure." Jinbe tried to console Ace whose head was downcast.

"Don't worry, he slept long enough already. Let's wake him up." Ace decided cheerfully.

"Oh right! That would work still… Luffy, breakfast! Meat!"

"Who in their right mind eats meat for breakfast?!" Jinbe wondered just as the boy's eyes shot open once again.

"Meat?" He croaked and coughed.

"There kid, drink some water." Someone handed him a bottle and Luffy greedily gulped everything down, then blinked owlishly at Ace.

"Ace?"

"Hmm?" The older brother smiled at him.

"ACE!" Luffy yelled and beamed at him, unwound his arms and legs from where they had been wrapped around Sabo and jumped at Ace before the other could tell him not to move around yet.

"You're alright! I wanted to see you when I woke up, but you weren't around, but then this blond guy, you know, the one who gave me my hat, made me sleepy again, that was mean, wasn't it, and I couldn't even see you yet! But you're here and you're well! Ah, but where is my hat now? I'm hungry. And I was so worried about you." Luffy gushed and probably wouldn't have stopped if Ace hadn't interrupted.

"You were worried? YOU? How do you think I felt?!" He stressed.

"Shishishi, but Ace is save now! You don't have to worry anymore!" Luffy beamed even more.

"I WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT MYSELF!" Ace roared then sighed and hugged Luffy close. "Don't you dare try to save me again!"

"Nope, I will always help Ace if something like this happens!" Luffy declared, then saw this topic as closed and reminded Ace that he was hungry, and tired, and that he still didn't know where his hat was.

"Straw Hat-ya, please refrain from moving too much yet. If your stitches reopen you might need another blood transfusion." Law scowled as he saw the smaller captain moving around, not caring about his own body at all.

"Oh! The bear-captain! So you did help me! Thanks a lot…"

"Trafalgar Law." Marco reminded.

"Yeah that! Ah!" Luffy turned his head to look at Sabo. "What? Ace?!"

"No he doesn't exist twice. This one is Marco, he's the one who gave you back your hat when we arrived." Ace pointed to his fellow commander, understanding perfectly well what his brother wanted to ask. Luffy nodded and thanked Marco again, then asked where his hat was now.

"We'll get it in a moment. Let Trafalgar Law take a look at your wound again, before we do. He's taken care of you for the last eight days." Ace stressed the surgeon's name in hopes of Luffy remembering it.

"Alright… Wait eight days, that means I missed fourty meals?!" screamed Luffy.

"No you most certainly didn't!" Sabo laughed at his brother's antics. He'd gotten good in math apparently. "You made up for that yesterday evening."

"Ah, so that's why I'm not that hungry!" Luffy looked pleased.

"Then why do you ask for food, if you're not even that hungry? And how did you reach forty?" Marco muttered and Luffy looked at him horrified.

"Because I always like meat!"

"So let's get my hat, then eat, then Tri… Taro…"

"It's Trafalgar Law." Ace once again said. "And nope, first he will do a check-up, then we can do what you want."

"EEEEEEEEEHHH?!" Luffy whined and Ace caved.

"Alright, alright, I'll have someone get your hat."

Sabo snickered, round one for Luffy. Ace glared heatedly at him. "You wouldn't have managed either."

Unfortunately Sabo had to agree there. There was no arguing with Luffy when it came to his hat.

"Who are you then? Are you one of Ace's crewmates?" Luffy's attention went back to the other blond and Marco was once again reminded of how Ace had told him about the kid's instincts. His instincts so far had been dead on, though his intelligence…

"No I'm not." Sabo readily responded. I'm part of the Revolutionary Army, my n-"

"Oh, so did dad send you?" Luffy interrupted.

"Well no, or…" Sabo pondered "yeah, I suppose Dragon did send me here."

"DRAGON?!" The surrounding pirates shrieked, several jaws dropping to the floor as they no longer remained _inconspicuous_.

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed. "You guys are funny."

And Ace sighed, dropping his head on Luffy's shoulder. He'd never learn, would he? Luffy pat his head. "You alright?"

"No." came Ace's muffled reply.

"Then we should go eat and afterwards we can sleep. We can even take Mauro and… You didn't tell me your name!" Luffy yelled accusingly.

"It's Marco." Marco told Luffy again.

"You should at least remember his name." Ace chided.

"Right, Marco." Luffy grinned at him and Marco coughed. He hadn't expected the kid to remember his name all that easily.

Luffy then stared at Sabo expectantly. "As I was going to tell you before, my name is Sabo."

Luffy's grip on Ace tightened and his expression froze.

"You're Sabo." He repeated.

"Yes, he's our Sabo." Ace affirmed.

"… Our… Sabo?" Luffy whispered hoarsely. The blond man nodded stiffly, unsure of what to expect from the teen.

He flinched when Luffy unwound and took a step towards him, sure he would hit him now. Instead the teen tackled him with enough force to push him to the ground with one loud thump.

"SAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BWAAAAGH YOU BWAHAHAAAAAA I BLEGHT YUR GRRAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAHAAAAAA!" Luffy cried loudly trying to ask about what was going on, before giving up in favor of just sobbing loudly and clinging on to the blond.

…

* * *

...

Initially I was going to stop before Luffy's reaction was shown, but I hate cliffhangers too much, so this felt like a much nicer place to stop. I had some other things planned for this chapter at first, but some of you guys asked for Boa Hancock and if she appeared, then she definitely wouldn't wait around. Instead she's the kind of person to take the first opportunity and check things on her own.

Now the plot bunny I mentioned was the scene where sleeping-Luffy steals everyone's food and their reaction. This scene turned out completely different from what I imagined (I certainly hadn't imagined them betting, instead their reactions ranged from eyes bulging and jaws dropping to horrified and feeling, sick, to enraged or in Marco's case, intrigued.

I hope you guys weren't disappointed with Sabo being the one who was with Luffy. (I did hint at it last chapter, though I know it was mean). But again, I think the only person whom Ace would trust with Luffy completely would be Sabo. The first part of this however was written from Luffy's perspective and he only remembered one blond. Also while I could imagine Marco taking a nap, he'd not cuddle someone he hasn't talked with yet.

Was this chapter too long? (The scene in the mess hall certainly did feel long, but with as many characters there I couldn't make it much shorter). Also writing Hancock was funny. I was dreading having to write her, but it went a lot easier than many other parts of this chapter.

 **Next** : Some more people need to appear, the other Straw Hats should be heard about sometime soon and of course Luffy is awake, so let's hope this'll make writing easier again.

 **Like always, I'm glad for any thoughts you had on this chapters or any suggestions of what might be interesting to see.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** One Piece doesn't belong to me and I make no profit of this story!

 **WARNING: LONG NOTES/REPLIES TO REVIEWS, SO SKIP DOWN TO THE LINE TO GET TO THE REAL CHAPTER!**

 **Warnings/Notes:**

 **1) Sorry for again taking so damn long to update**. I have not forgotten my story, nor have I stopped writing intentionally. Unfortunately my job comes first. I did have a week off, when I hit another roadblock, exactly because of adding Hancock. I wanted to write a scene with her and Luffy, but it lacked any kind of purpose, so in the end I decided to just skip through some days. Doesn't mean the problem is gone however, since I do want her as a friend for Luffy, so I will have to write about her and the others at one point. Instead I got to some of the Straw Hats, which was quite nice in my opinion.

 **1B) Thoughts on story development/new arc announcement/rant? – spoiler alert for Manga development** : Alright, so I do love the idea of Marco and the others coming back (big surprise), I love Nekomamushi (he looks like so much fun and so cuddly and I love how Luffy just sits on him and so on), I was totally excited. And then the announcement of the Yonko-arc came, and even though we all knew it, with how everything was moving forward at the same time, I hadn't expected it like this. This announcement, even though not really surprising, hit me hard, because for the first time I really can see the end coming and I'm not looking forward to this at all. One Piece has been one of the few things I've been looking forward to every week for many years, it's not something I ever want to end. I can more than understand Oda (heck, if I had the money he has, I'd have stopped working ages ago), but still. I'd rather have him take breaks all two weeks than this manga ever ending.

 **2)** **See any** (grammar and spelling) **mistakes**? Let me know! Please be exact with where you found the mistake, thanks Also sorry for not changing those that were shown to me, I did change the chapters in fanfiction and thought they'd automatically upload, I didn't realize you had to replace the chapter in the story-files on fanfiction net, until someone pointed out the Otohime mistake I had corrected months ago again. Sorry for that.

 **3)** The usual **boys love** **warning** – don't like don't read (no Sabo will not end up with anyone, neither will Ace), the pairing will not be the focus of this story, even if it will be part of it.

 **Thank you to all the people who took the time to review! Over 30 for one single chapter, I'm so happy about that!**

 **I'm really sorry I took so long with this chapter! Seriously, I wouldn't have continued for a lot longer if it wasn't for your encouragement!**

 **Thanks to:** **Kiri Kaitou Clover** , **Destrark** , **shinxshinx1595** , **DeborahBee** , **SoulMore** , **pikachu-naruto1** , **DragonFire Princess** , **Bluejay Blaze** , **shubhendu dutta** , **demonslayer4** , **meri** , **OfMoonsAndStars** , **StarliteOracle** , **LongPastMidnight** , **GreenDrkness** , **Trich** , **Titania1796** , **vampireharry the 2** , **saintsxsailors** , **Wolf Riddle** , **Fox Boss, The Richmaster** , **Lightningblade49, KHR-Yunalesca, Black' Victor Cachat,** **MissSexyRain,** **lostdog200,** **N,** **pull harder,** **ScarletRoofs** , **Blushing Green Apple** , **yuriko. hueixin** , **ChaosofNightMoonlightKiller, Nala1220**

 **...**

* * *

 **ON WITH THE CHAPTER:**

* * *

…

 **(Continuation/Calls)**

…

* * *

„Hey Ace, where are you going?" Marco called his friend.

"I'm going to get Luffy's hat." Ace looked back at the ground where the blond was trying in vain to untangle from his little brother, at least enough to be able to get up from the floor. Luffy didn't budge an inch, Sabo only managed to stretch the boy a bit, though he appeared mindful of their younger brother's wounds. Or maybe he just didn't feel like trying all that hard, what with him patting Luffy's head and whispering things to him now. His eyes, too, had a suspicious shine to them.

"Don't you wanna stay here? I could get it for you, yoi." Marco offered. There was no reason for Ace to leave, after he waited for days for the kid to open his eyes.

"No thanks." A pained grin spread over his face. "This will take quite a while and he'd probably force himself to calm down sooner with me around."

"And that's a bad thing?" Blenheim inquired. Didn't Ace have some problems with crying? He had always assumed Ace disliked it, when people were overemotional (so maybe he was wrong about that, after all the kid was extremely so, and there was no limit to Ace's affection for his little brother).

"Luffy is Luffy. If he doesn't cry now, he'll just get to it again later. He might actually do that despite everything." Ace's eyebrows twitched in annoyance before his eyes softened. "Sabo reappearing isn't something we counted on."

Marco eyed the blond who seemed pretty happy, even though he had resigned himself to stay on the ground in what looked to be a rather uncomfortable position for the time being. Still, Sabo was probably relieved to have been wrong, when he hadn't gotten beaten for vanishing. He honestly had believed Straw Hat would do so, however Marco had had his doubts and Ace obviously hadn't even considered such an outcome. The older D. was well in tune with the kid's behavior and actions.

"Just this once it's Sabo's problem anyway. I'm not gonna help him with this. I understand Sabo now, but I still remember what it felt like when he left. So does Luffy. There's no way he'll calm down anytime soon."

This prediction came only partially true. When they returned just minutes later they found them in the same position, with Straw Hat still bawling loudly. Sabo was speaking to him in low tones and Straw Hat nodded now and then, still his tears didn't end. Marco almost felt sorry for Sabo. Almost, gloating won.

Ace had fully expected this apparently, for he just walked towards them. "Here, your hat." He placed it on Sabo's head instead.

"Ashe!" Straw Hat turned his teary eyes towards him.

"Just this once, Luffy." Ace patted his head. The other grabbed his hat and pulled it over his eyes, before turning silent all of a sudden. Cursing under his breath Ace sat down beside Sabo.

"He finally stopped crying?" Ivankov asked.

"No he didn't. He fell asleep again" Sabo tried to get up, causing most of the crew to laugh at his predicament when Luffy slumped forward and snored, his arms and leg wound firmly around the other.

"Which means this is going to continue once he wakes up!" Ace growled. This was exactly what he had wanted to avoid.

"You didn't have to encourage him! He'll need even longer now! And when are you finally going to help me?" Sabo gestured at the rubbery limbs that kept him firmly on the ground.

"Fine, I'll help you, but you better explain things and calm him down for real later."

"Which would have been a hell lot easier, if you hadn't told him it was alright to cry." Sabo bit out.

They still needed the surgeon's help in the end. Luffy once again proved just how stubborn he could be and kept his limbs around his victim with an admirably tenacity. Law apparently found it all very amusing. Especially once he had the other captain sprawled out on the ground, so he could finally get to his checkup, and realized that the teen had managed to circle Sabo's wrist with his fingers several times, making knots into them while doing so.

"Should I replace you with a stone or something?" The surgeon offered.

"No, thanks." Sabo got up carefully to show Luffy would only stretch his arm and stay the same otherwise. "I wouldn't want to be cause for more tears if I'm not around when he wakes up again."

"Good. I'm looking forward to see how he gets rid of all these knots once he wakes up." was all he had to say about it before he got to work, wondering if the Straw Hat captain might have managed to rip some bloodstreams (like any normal person would have with such an injury). With his rubber body he seemed fine mostly, even if he was in need of a change of bandages again. He briefly wondered if he should just sedate the other until his body had healed. He easily discarded the idea, what with those two brothers around. In the end it wasn't Law's problem, they were the ones who'd have to keep an eye on him, which would be an S class mission most likely.

Once he was finished Sabo moved Luffy back into his lap with the help of Ivankov. "I really did believe he'd hit me."

"Idiot. Since when does Luffy hold a grudge? _I_ would have hit you, if I didn't have time to think things through. Luffy never was one for grudges, unless you really pissed him off. Just remember when we went to hunt some crocodiles and it was our fault when he was eaten? He hasn't changed all that much." Though whether that was a good or bad thing, Ace wasn't sure.

"That's good. Luffy shouldn't change too much, even if he makes me worry."

"You say that now. Just wait until the next news appear in the papers and you'll curse him for still being as much of an idiot as he was back when he almost got eaten by a snake, fell of a bridge, found something poisonous or attacked a giant bear behind your back. He truly hasn't changed." Ace commented spitefully, ignoring the wide eyed stares he got from Ivankov and whoever else was listening in.

Sabo cringed. "Don't remind me!"

"Just calling you back to reality." If Ace was going to get grey hairs worrying himself sick about Luffy, the least he could do was take Sabo down with him.

… …

"LUFFY?!" The Straw Hat captain woke several hours later, to a very familiar voice shouting for him. He blinked several times and looked around from where he was comfortably lying on Sabo.

"YOU DAMN SHITHEADS! You said Luffy had woken up! There's no way he'd sleep through dinner time! I swear if you lie-"

"ZORO? DINNER!" Luffy cheerfully interrupted his first mate. He looked around for his first mate. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Fossa blinked several times at the cheerful smile of the person who had been wailing nonstop last he had seen him. What a difference it made, even though he was drooling now as well.

"LUFFY!" The gruff voice suddenly sounded a lot nicer and there was an undeniable hint of relieve in it.

"Uhm…" He held out the receiver of Straw Hat's Den Den Mushi for him to take.

The kid's eyes lit up even more and his arms shot forward to grab the receiver ignoring Fossa's cry to watch out, before he was crumpled and buried under the weight of his pillow, which also was awake now and tried to roll off of him.

"That hurt!" The kid complained and glared at Sabo. He took in their linked arms and accused "Why did you make so many knots? I wasn't going anywhere, you could have held my hand normally you know. I'm not good with getting rid of knots!"

"Luffy?" The voice from the other end was full of concern again, having heard the captain's pained cry, followed by another one, when Fossa was grabbed and dragged down next to Luffy, so the captain could talk with Zoro properly.

"What are you doing over there?" questioned the first mate.

Sabo hit Luffy's head and helped Fossa up again. "It wasn't me who made the-"

"SABO?!" Realization hit Luffy all of a sudden and made good use of their linked hands to pull Sabo towards him. Then he buried his head in his brother's chest, as he started to snivel.

"Didn't I know it…" Ace groaned as he was woken up from all the noises.

"I KNEW I COULDN'T TRUST YOU!" came the enraged shout over the Den Den Mushi as Zoro heard Luffy's sobs. "THE F*** YOU'RE TAKING GOOD CARE OF OUR CAPTAIN!"

"SHOROOO!" Luffy wept loudly, halting his enraged first mate. This wasn't the voice of his captain when he was sad. "SHABO ISH ALIHIIIIIVE!"

"Of course Ace- wait… Sabo?!" Zoro asked completely confused now. Had they put their captain on drugs or something? Was he delirious? They had told him he had gotten shot through by Kizaru.

"Shaboooo… I'm shooo happy! BLAAARGH!" He sobbed even more.

"Shouldn't you be glad you got Ace back? You were all over the news!" Zoro snapped. "You're getting on my nerves now!"

As if to make sure Ace was still beside him Luffy's head turned at an unnatural angle, causing the cord to wrap around his neck. "Ashe isher too."

Fossa swore he could hear the last bit of Zoro's patience snap before he roared again. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OVER THERE?! GET AWAY FROM MY CAPTAIN YOU DAMN SHITHEADS OR I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!"

"But Shoro!" Luffy wailed. "You can't kill Ashe and Shabooo."

"THE HELL, LUFFY! No wait… Ace is there too you said, right?" Zoro pressed, wishing he could be there himself to make sense of things. This was giving him a headache. If the older brother was around then he probably could explain things better than Luffy would have been able to anyway.

"Uhn" Luffy nodded.

"Can you let me talk with him for a moment?" Luffy nodded again and handed the receiver to Ace and coughed as the wire pressed down on his throat.

"… Idiot" Fossa snorted then helped Luffy free himself.

Meanwhile Ace clearly had enough of it as well and hissed to Sabo. "Calm him down, _now_!"

"Zoro, right?" He greeted.

"Ace? Good, care to explain why our captain is in that state right now? He should have woken up several hours ago, so why is he still crying?" Zoro forced himself to ask calmly.

"Someone else told you how Luffy got hurt, right? So he woke up today again." Ace started.

"I know that already! Why is he in that state now, if he woke up hours ago?!" Zoro interrupted impatiently.

"He might have woken up hours ago, but he was only awake for a few minutes, and fell asleep pretty soon after he realized Sabo was alive." Ace informed him.

"Okay, so that explains one thing. Tell me, who the hell is Sabo? I'd have understood if he was crying because you were alive, but I've never heard about Sabo." Zoro was still very much irritated.

"Sabo is our brother, who we believed had died ten years ago." Ace replied. "It turns out he was saved by Luffy's father and had lost his memories in an accident. He only just remembered a few days ago."

"He was shot by a Tenryubito!" Luffy cried as he plopped down on Ace's lap and dragged Sabo with him. He wanted to talk with Zoro again. "I should have hit them more."

The Den Den Mushi nodded darkly in Zoro's place as he agreed. "We should have."

"Shouldn't you be the voice of reason?!" Ace accused, wondering if his earlier judgement of leaving Luffy with his crew had been that great after all. Now that he wasn't so busy with the shitty traitor anymore his doubts tripled.

"It was their fault! They shouldn't have tried to sell Keimi!" Luffy's face darkened as Zoro corrected him, saying they wanted to buy her.

"That was actually true? You truly attacked one of the Tenryubito?" Fossa laughed loudly now.

"If Luffy hadn't attacked, I would have sliced them myself." Zoro said matter-of-factly. "So you've calmed down now, Luffy?"

"… No..." Luffy teared up yet again.

Zoro cursed himself for even asking. "Stop crying you idiot, I'll seriously hit you next time we meet!"

"Don't threaten Luffy!" Ace yelled into the receiver, though one second ago he had thought the same thing.

As the two squabbled over the Den Den Mushi Sabo pulled Luffy towards him. "He's right, you know."

Luffy nodded, though the flood continued to stream down his face. "Ace and I would have much more reason to cry." That thought seemed to halt his little brother for the moment.

"When I arrived here, you really did look as if you were dead. And if it wasn't for all those machines Trafalgar Law had, I doubt you would have survived. That's when I remembered, you know." Sabo continued as Luffy's whole attention was focused on him. "You looked dead and you are my little brother. And Ace looked like death warmed over too. He was so worried. We'd have lost our little brother."

"I'm alive." Luffy croaked, not noticing how silent it had become around them.

"You can't imagine how grateful I am for that. Thank you for being alive. I wouldn't know what I would do, if I had lost you." Sabo couldn't bring himself to regret his words, even if they caused Luffy to squeeze him painfully hard.

"His condition was that bad?" Zoro got everyone's attention back.

"His heart stopped twice." Ace's eyes locked with Luffy's. He wanted his little brother to understand just how badly this could have ended. Luffy wasn't someone who was allowed to leave him behind like this, ever.

"I'm fine now." Luffy reassured them. "And Zoro was hurt badly too! How are you? And I don't know about any of the others."

"That sounds way too serious, Luffy." Zoro continued with a sigh when the other kept quiet. "I've landed on a pretty empty island. That weird ghost girl is here too. She helped bandage me. If we got away, I'm pretty sure all the others are somewhere safe as well."

"Actually" Fossa spoke up "We've gotten quite a few phone calls and threats from some others of your crew."

Luffy laughed and hit his shoulder with his free hand. "They're the best."

"So all of them called?" Zoro wanted to know.

"Not all. Aside from you there were three more, if we count the one who's with Ivankov's friends." Fossa told him.

"I'll try to get everyone to call at the same time. We really need to talk." Luffy was serious all of a sudden. "Rayleigh is here too, so he should join us as well."

Zoro hesitated "Is it really alright for us to call. The Whitebeard Pirates are most likely being watched, so the Marines might listen in."

"What? They can do that?" Luffy exclaimed surprised.

"That's what that white Den Den Mushi is for. It makes it impossible for others to follow your conversations. It's connected to yours." Sabo helpfully explained.

"It is? Did it eat ours? I thought it belonged to the giant man." Luffy poked the white Den Den Mushi several times.

"Don't annoy it!" Ace held his hand. "They're rare and very helpful. And how do you think Zoro would have gotten our number?"

"So we have a white Den Den Mushi now?" Zoro whistled appreciatively. "Either way, try to get everyone to agree to call at the same time, maybe in three days at midday. By then all who can should have called."

"After midday!" Luffy insisted. "I'm hungry!"

"Fine, fine." Zoro easily gave in. "I'll talk to you soon then. Please take care of our captain meanwhile."

"Thanks!" Luffy grinned at Fossa and handed him the receiver, once the Den Den Mushi went quiet. "So when the others call, please tell them of our plan!"

" _I_ have to do that?!" Fossa's amusement vanished instantly.

Luffy stared at him blankly. "It's your Den Den Mushi!"

"It's yours! Not ours! Didn't you listen?!"

The rubbery teen however was too busy already, telling Sabo about how hungry he was and that he wanted to eat meat. Excitedly he pulled the other up. Both older brothers shared a look, before Ace bowed to Fossa. "Thanks for taking care of my brother."

Then he too was dragged away by the youngest one, who reminded Ace that he had promised him food.

"Why the hell are you only polite when it suits you?!" Fossa threw a potato after the other commander that vanished long before it reached its target.

"Thanks." The brat waved, before once again following his nose.

… …

The few days that followed were annoying in the way that now Luffy had two brothers keeping him firmly on the ground and stopping him from jumping around (too much). With only Ace around Luffy was sure he would have been able to give his brother the slip. Just when he found some interesting fish in the water with no Ace in sight, and leaned over the railing to catch it (with his bare hands), Sabo appeared out of nowhere and pulled him away from the railing, thus making his arms miss their target. By the time he checked the huge fish had vanished. It had looked so delicious too!

Another time he saw a big and really cool bird flying over the ship, Luffy made to rocket towards it to either make it part of his crew (it was blue! Who wouldn't want a blue bird? He was sure Chopper would be able to properly translate everything necessary just as he had done with Karue), or eat it (it was big!), when a wall of fire intercepted and he was literally caught by Ace. The older D. scolded him for his reckless behavior and reminded him of what the surgeon had told him (that his wound would reopen if stretched, as it had done when he had tried to catch the fish).

Luffy could only be coerced into promising to not to do such things (hunting for food without a fishing rod and fighting Marines) when Ace and Sabo both promised they would go along with whatever he chose the moment he was cleared by the bear's captain. Until then he was forced to endure being bored now and then. Luckily it never lasted long with both of his brothers around.

Aside from a bit of boredom these few days also were awesome. How could they not be when Sabo was back alive, Ace was alive as well and more carefree than he had ever seen him before and both of them were with him most of the time? It was a bit weird, because it seemed like they sought him out and followed him around, instead of the other way around. It was brilliant, even if it did stop him from having fun quite a few times, like when some of the pirates started to spar and he wasn't allowed to join.

Instead Ace had hugged him and dragged him off to the kitchen, which was even better. His brother was also more affectionate than ever before. He didn't mind cuddling and hugging anymore, so Luffy took full advantage of that and would wake up in the mornings cuddling Ace or Sabo and being hugged in return. Unlike Ace, Sabo had never minded being hugged and cuddled by Luffy, so he accepted his affections and returned them, just like he had done when they were kids. Luffy loved every minute of it.

Since his brothers were around he also never got lost on the big ship. Ace had kept his promise and showed him the Moby Dick. It had taken two days for Luffy to see everything, since he fell asleep quite a few times or insisted on going back to the kitchen or the storage room. Unfortunately on the second day there had been locks on the storage room door, keeping the three brothers out, they hadn't dared to close the kitchen though. Still, Ace had bristled in annoyance, Sabo had sighed while Luffy had laughed and told them about how Sanji had banned him from the Sunny's kitchen and had gotten locks on everything as well.

He was still tired a lot and slept way more, even though he ate a lot. Ivankov said it was normal after his magic had worn off and the doctor had said much the same, so he wasn't worried. Waking up was all the more nice, since Ace or Sabo or both were always there when he did. Often times Hancock was there as well, however whenever he was awake she did walk back. She was strange like this.

Luffy was still glad she was there. She and her crew always had some snacks for him. And hadn't that been a surprise when he had come into the mess hall that first evening and seen her there with Sandersonia, Marigold and some others as well as the old woman, who had told him about Ace's imprisonment. Rayleigh and Ivankov had been there too, talking with them.

"Hancock!" He yelled as his eyes fell on her. At once he jumped over to her and tried to hug her, tried being the keyword as he had once again forgotten how his hand was linked to Sabo's, so the other one bumped into him again, sending him sprawling onto the Shichibukai. Sabo himself landed ungracefully on the floor, while Ace had a hard time keeping his laughter at bay.

"L-L-Luffy" She stuttered.

"Sorry." He groaned and got up again.

Meanwhile Ace's crewmates became rather loud in their protests. "How dare you attack the empress?"

Luffy glared at them. "I didn't want to attack her, I wanted to hug her, but Sabo-"

"Hug me?" She squeaked.

"HUG HER?" The others shouted angrily.

"Of course, she did help me save Ace! And why are you so angry? I didn't hurt any of you!" Ace's crewmates were so weird. One moment they were looking at him angrily, then grateful in the next.

"L-Luffy-kun can hug me whenever he wants." Hancock avoided his eyes.

"WHAAAAAT?" The others howled loudly.

"Well actually I wanted to thank you!" he grinned brightly and she turned away completely, while saying something about her making a great fiancé.

"Anyway, thanks a lot for now, I better not hug you since Sabo tied our hands together."

"I DID NOT!" Sabo looked annoyed now and Luffy laughed.

"Shall we get rid of the knots then? Can you help us Ace?"

"Sure." They got to work until Sabo pulled at their hands sharply.

"Get rid of them! Not make them tighter or add more knots, idiot!" He ranted at Luffy, just as Ace managed to free one of his fingers.

"How dare you shout at Luffy, when you're so lucky to be allowed to hold his hand?!" Hancock glared daggers at the blond revolutionist.

"Shishishi, it's nice holding Sabo's hand, isn't it? I didn't think I'd ever get to do it again." For some reason Hancock seemed even more upset then, though she sounded happy when she said something about him having called her by her name again. Meanwhile Sabo looked extremely happy and squeezed his hand.

"You can hold my hand too!" Someone yelled from one of the tables and was at once hit by several other guys.

Ace had burst out into laughter then, so he was of no help anymore. It was too nice seeing him laugh like this, so neither Luffy nor Sabo complained, even though they couldn't get rid of the knots on their own. Soon after Hancock had taken his place and expertly freed his hand. She was a really great person, once you got to know her.

"By the way, Luffy, we still have some meat prepared for dinner for you." She remembered all of a sudden.

"YOU DID?! You're the best!" This time he hugged her for real, without any accidents, to the ire of Ace's crewmates. They were lucky Ace was too busy laughing at them, otherwise he might have burned a few for how they looked at Luffy.

The Kuja Pirates were very considerate and even decided to stay until Luffy got better and Rayleigh's plan was to be put into motion. He and Rayleigh had talked about that too, once he saw the old man on the Sunny. The Whitebeard Pirates would take them to one of the abandoned islands in the Calm Belt, just outside of their territory (apparently no one claimed islands in the Calm Belt) where he could train. This would most likely also keep the Marines of their tails, since they would expect him to be either on Whitebeard's ship or somewhere in his territory.

Hancock had also offered an island close to Amazon Lily, however Ace also wanted to join them for a few months, thus it was easy for Luffy to decide on where to train, even if they had to make their journey twice. Now he only needed to inform his crew.

The man who'd brought the Sunny's transformed Den Den Mushi had informed him about how Nami and Franky had both called shortly after he'd left. Both had agreed to their group call, as did Sanji who was with Inazuma at the moment. Now if only he could talk with Usopp, Chopper, Robin and Brook as well, none of them had called yet, however.

In the meantime Sabo and Ivankov had called his father, whom they still had not informed about anything until then. They had just agreed on the plans for the foreseeable future, when Luffy burst into their (or more accurately Ace's) room and heard Dragon's voice. He forgot all about why he wanted to find Sabo and blurted "You're the one I met in Loguetown!"

"Luffy?" Sabo asked.

"Oh, so Luffy joined us. How are you?" asked Dragon "I heard you got injured."

"I'm a lot better now. I'm bored, cause I'm not allowed to do anything." He complained then remembered. "Ji-chan said you were my father."

"I am. So you finally know." Dragon answered easily and Luffy nodded. Then he addressed Ivankov and told the okama to be ready by the next morning.

"Iva-chan is leaving already?" Luffy was a bit sad to hear that, then he snatched the receiver. "You're not getting Sabo back anytime soon, even if he is part of your army! He's my brother!"

There was a moment of silence before Dragon chuckled. "Sabo also wants to stay for a while. He'll help you with your training."

Luffy beamed "Good. I don't know what it means to have a father, but I think I can like you. Let's talk again sometime, I gotta go eat now."

He had left before his father had had the chance to say anything else.

… …

In comparison the call with his crew was a lot less calm. As promised, Rayleigh had joined him on the beach of the island they were still docked at. Sabo and Ace had also joined, curious about how Luffy's crew would react.

Nami first of all screeched loud enough for the whole island to hear. She had been worried about Luffy, until the moment their bounties had gone up as well as his, by 30 million beri each no less (excluding Brook and Chopper). So much trouble mostly due to Luffy's act of freeing Ace and breaking in and out of Impel Down. And how dare he do that without her. He could have gotten killed. He almost _did_ get killed. And what was that about them joining the Whitebeard Pirates?

"Calm down already!" Zoro just had to set her off even more.

Sanji was only too glad to hear his beloved Nami-swan's voice again and berated Zoro and Luffy for making her angry. Franky was sneezing several times, which lead Rayleigh to believe he was on a winter island.

"So Luffy, how are we going to meet up?" Nami asked, once she had berated them enough.

"Are we ready to seriously discuss now?" Rayleigh joined the conversation.

"Is that Rayleigh?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, he's going to train me." Luffy grinned.

"Train… you?" Nami hesitated.

"Indeed, I'm going to train him for the next two years." Rayleigh decided to get right to the middle of it, now that Luffy had so bluntly stated his plans.

"Two years?" Zoro, who'd already assumed their captain had decided on something that would throw the rest of them off, was the first one to find his voice again.

"That's the least amount of time Luffy will need." Rayleigh confirmed.

"WHAT? You want us to train for two years?!" "I won't stay in hell for two years!" "But Luffy-" Nami, Sanji and Franky all started to protest at the same time.

"We are not playing games!" Luffy shouted, silencing everyone. "Can anyone of you say we are ready for what is to come? I was sure we were and yet we have gotten separated like this. None of us was able to stand a chance, against only one admiral. I almost died because of the same admiral just a few days ago. I want to say I can face whatever comes our way, I've never thought I couldn't. And yet we couldn't even escape! I couldn't protect a single one of you, and I couldn't protect myself either. We were only saved due to one of our enemies!"

"I seriously believe it would be the best for you to stop here for a while and continue on when you are ready. Of course, the decision is only yours to make. The world isn't running away and with your quest leading you to Raftel you will need more strength, if you don't want a repeat of what happened at Sabaody. Are you all gathering again only to face the same thing? Kuma might not be there a second time." Rayleigh advised as they remained silent.

With the memories of their defeat on Sabaody Archipelago fresh on their minds all of them had to admit that he was right. Luffy, who had always been able to defeat every enemy he had faced, had been outmatched, they all had been and they couldn't allow Luffy to face all of their enemies alone. He needed them, just as much as they needed him. They had failed Luffy and they had to do whatever they could to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

"I agree, we weren't ready. And if this is how it's going to be from now on, we have to get stronger first, if we don't want to fail like countless others." Zoro broke the silence.

"So do we all get together and train somewhere?" Franky asked, he'd already warmed up to the idea.

"While I probably could train Sanji and maybe Zoro, I don't think I'd be able to properly train a shipwright like yourself or a navigator. Physical strength isn't the only thing you guys need to improve after all. Whitebeard agreed to help you, in case it's needed. His crew has a lot of specialists of all sorts after all." Rayleigh reasoned.

"One of the Yonko's helping us?!" Franky couldn't believe his ears.

"Don't forget Luffy helped save his son, he feels indebted." Rayleigh chuckled.

Luffy made a face. "We're not accepting the old man's help!"

"LUFFY!" The others yelled.

"No!" he firmly objected. "I saved Ace because Ace is my brother first of all! I don't care if the old man calls him his son, I didn't want to help him either, so whatever debt he thinks there is, doesn't exist and we are not going to use him! Ace also said we will have to fight in the future, so there's no way we will accept!"

"But then how are we going to train?" Sanji questioned.

"Sanji should train with me and Rayleigh!"

"I'm also a cook! Rayleigh isn't so that's a shitty idea!" Sanji argued.

"Sanji, right?" Sabo joined the conversation. "You're the one that landed in the Kamabakka Kingdom, aren't you?"

"You mean I landed in hell! There's not a single woman here!" The Den Den Mushi started to cry.

"Whitebeard has no women on his ship either." Luffy laughed. "But I've seen this guy who dresses like one! He looks pretty!"

"NOOOO! Don't say that! I don't wanna see a man dressed up! I need _real_ ladies!" Sanji howled enraged.

"At least the ladies are safe from you for a while!" Zoro muttered and got an earful from the cook in return.

Sabo coughed loudly to interrupt their ensuing shouting match. "Since it doesn't matter in this case you might as well wait for Ivankov. He might be able to help you."

"Getting help from revolutionaries is fine?" Franky asked Luffy.

"We're not fighting them. They don't want to become the Pirate King, or do you Sabo?" Luffy watched his brother expectantly.

"We're not even pirates. I won't ever fight you." He ruffled Luffy's hair who was smiling again.

"If we're really going for individual training, then I want to stay where I am right now. I'm at the perfect place to improve as a navigator, even if I do have to come up with new fighting techniques on my own. What I can learn here will surly help me in that area as well." Nami was already thinking of ways on how to use those weather eggs she'd seen.

"I agree with Nami. I also am in the perfect place." conceded Franky.

"How good of a swordsman are you, Rayleigh?" Zoro asked.

"I'd say I'm decent, I could help you for sure, but I am no master." Rayleigh admitted.

"In that case I too am good where I am, I think." Zoro admitted though he didn't really like the idea he had just gotten.

"How can you all be in good places to train when I am in the worst place imaginable?" Sanji was hopping mad at the others fortune.

"You still can come here you know. It should be fun and I'd get the best food, after all." Luffy started to drool.

"That is what you're concerned about, isn't it?! No, if it's training I can get here enough, I will do as suggested and wait for that other guy to come here to see about cooking. You better take care of yourself for two years, shitty captain." Sanji decided.

"So everyone will train on their own. This might actually be for the best anyway. The Whitebeard Pirates already have to watch out, with Luffy's involvement in Ace's escape you guys are being targeted as well, so no matter what you do, stay out of sight." Rayleigh warned.

"Not all of us know about the change in plans. How are we going to reach the others?" Franky wondered.

"Rayleigh said we're going to attack the Marines." Luffy laughed.

"WHAT?"

"The actual plan is to attract the attention of the journalists, so they can get a good picture of Luffy with the message. It's not something he'd do normally, so I'm sure everyone will understand." Rayleigh explained while taking a sip of his sake. "We'll take the Thousand Sunny, so when they take a picture of the ship I'm sure the rest will call if there are any problems. Don't get too shocked when he'll appear in the Newspaper in a week or two. We'll have to get the ship coated again so it's going to take a bit of time. Also Luffy still needs to rest."

"That sounds more like a plan. Should we join you guys for this?" Zoro wanted to know. Maybe it would be better for all of them to appear with whatever message Rayleigh came up with.

"It's better if it's just Luffy." Rayleigh declined. "It'll be a lot more difficult for all of you to escape again. Luffy will be alright, don't worry. Ace is going to join us, so Whitebeard also wants to come just in case, even if he won't help in the attack."

"If you say so I'll trust your judgement, but Luffy, will you be okay alone on some island?" Nami worried.

"He's not alone." Ace twitched at the insult. "Luffy is our brother before he is your captain, too."

"Shishishi" Luffy grinned. "Ace and Sabo are both here, so I'm alright."

"So you're in good hands, super!" Franky cheered. "Then all is settled."

"Who is Sabo by the way?" Sanji asked.

"Don't-" Zoro tried but it was too late when Nami repeated the question. To his surprise the Den Den Mushi didn't start bawling. He could hear Luffy gasp and swallow hard, but that was it. He breathed out in relief (and so did Ace, who was ready to curse the crew), when Luffy _explained_ that Sabo was alive again, when he'd been dead before and that he was his brother as well. Zoro could relate to the witch this time when she threatened to hit Luffy the next time she saw him, without Ace he'd not have gotten much of what the other was blabbering about.

… …

* * *

...

* * *

Yay, for finally finishing this chapter.

So I said in some reviews that I hadn't finished the Hancock/Luffy scene… turns out that I replied so often how sorry I am for that, that I really felt bad for disappointing you guys like this. Turns out that now all of a sudden I could do it (since it was just a part of the narration in Luffy's pov) when before I tried for a whole week and couldn't get on at all. The real problem still stands however: Hancock is in love and Luffy will not return that, which would be easier, if he wouldn't return anyone else's (Ace and Sabo don't count, of course he loves his brothers!). I like Hancock, so I actually want her to be happy, so that's why I don't know how to continue there.

The phone call with Zoro + Luffy was one of those plot bunnies that haunt me. I always imagine how he'd be alright, then Zoro call's and he'd burst into tears, irritating his first mate to no end (of course the scene didn't turn out, how I imagined it yet again… when does it ever? … )

I don't know why I added the scene with Dragon. I thought those two should talk, but once they did, I realized that Luffy really wouldn't know what to say to his father, the same for Dragon. Either way, I still left it. And finally we have some of the other Straw Hats. I included those whom I expected to have an access to a Den Den Mushi. You might argue that Brook would have had as well (since they worshipped him) and Robin too, but Robin isn't with the revolutionaries just yet. I don't know why I didn't include Brook.

 **Next chapter** : Will definitely include Whitebeard and most likely the commanders, dunno what else yet (and might change plans yet again, like I seem so prone to doing)

 **Thanks for reading, please leave a review** (please tell me, if you find any mistakes, I now know how to change things for the actual chapter-page too!)

 **This chapter was only proof read by myself, so any help would be appreciated**! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own One Piece!

 **Warnings/Notes:**

 **1)** **I apologize** yet again for taking so damn long. The last few weeks I had the sniffles (and yes, "only" that). Not being able to breath properly for weeks does take its toll (it started even before I uploaded my last chapter, so yeah… I still have it, but at least my nose isn't completely "blocked" anymore and yesterday for the first time I didn't use any nose drops during the night…) Aside from that I was busy getting sick from a fun video game (motion sickness!), which sucked big time. I really wanted to play that game! ;A; Another thing I noticed: I got sad when writing and realized I am not over Ace's death… overemotional? Most likely, but I didn't expect this to happen. Whenever I read other stories where he lives I always was happy and enjoyed it.

 **2)** I dared to reread my own story, noticed several mistakes and left again… So demotivating to see so many mistakes after uploading it… makes me wanna do it all over, but if I ever start that, I just know I won't ever continue, so no, just **please tell me when you see any mistakes** , thank you! This story is not beta-read!

 **3)** **WARNING** : **Boys love alert** , stay away if you don't like it (so like always, the focus will still be the story itself and not the romance, maybe I will add a special romance chapter, but that will have ample warnings, that even a person who usually doesn't read them will be forced to notice.) And yes, I'm pretty sure now I will add some pairing now (also a topic that still gives me lots of trouble… Shall I, shall I not, how/when… focused scenes or not… thus special romance-chapter solution… maybe)

 **Again I received a lot of positive feedback from so many of you! Thanks so much and I am truly sorry for not working faster.** I truly want to get more time to write, but with my virus/bug or whatever it just sucked. I'm sorry I worried a few, I won't add a "chapter" just to say I will take longer to update (that's something I hate… and I don't feel like abandoning my story, I love Ace, Sabo and Luffy too much so at least here I want them to be happy!

 **Special thanks to** : **Rocky-hime** (Thanks so much again!), **GreenDrkness** , **Yumi-nachan** (so late . ), **demonslayer4** , **Fox Boss** , **Lunapok** , **lostdog200** (sorry!), **vampireharry the 2** , **Alli Claraissa Near** (force adopted XD Sabo won't like this… Ace maybe not either), **Guest** (soon . sorry!), **Yana5** , **SoulMore** , **Rin-s666** , **Estriella** (ASL *hearts*), **Zaralann** , **Marrei, OfMoonsAndStars** , **Guest**

 **absolutedespair** : I'm curious what you think about the interactions of Luffy and the others in this chapter. Hope they feel natural.

 **Bluejay Blaze** : Fully agreed, all of them are crazy XD, at least Ace's crew has two :D

 **yuriko . hueixin** : I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think she was with them at that time, don't forget that Luffy only was out for 8 days, instead of the original two weeks. Anyway, what questions did it raise? :D

 **MissSexyRain** : Awww, too bad. I'd really enjoy a person to bug me and tell me to send em more once a week ;) . I am not sure when Law and Luffy will part for the time being, but yeah, he gets annoyed. The only reason he doesn't is cause he is too amused by all the others about to get heart attacks.

 **KHR-Yunalesca** : Thanks :) It really makes me happy when others say they liked something about my story. I actually also like the scene with captain and first mate (though why can't I properly put into words the things I see in my head… And yes… Luffy wouldn't remember his voice, would he, especially not when he didn't even remember his face, as we just found out in the last few chapters… My bad, maybe I should rewrite that little bit at some point :/ And thanks on the feedback on Brook. You're totally right with him having no access to a Den Den Mushi. *bows* And thank you for your kind words. I always really enjoy your reviews ^o^

 **Lightningblade49** : Yes, you will get a goodbye scene from Crocodile (as hinted already). As for Zoro checking in: he won't do that. He knows now Luffy is in good hands and thus focuses 100% on getting stronger, as Luffy will be doing. And you got a little Sunny-scene in this chapter… that is one of the unresolved things still: I don't know where I will have her anchored for two years.

 **Black' Victor Cachat** : Oh yeah, pirates are spiteful, so of course Ace and Sabo will be too XD . I apologize, but in my story Hancock won't be with Luffy (thus the BL warning). I'm glad you liked the phone calls, I enjoyed writing them (thus I left the Dragon one) As for the other S11… I haven't even thought about them. I wonder if I could write some comments on them…

 **Fray** : Aye, there are women, but Luffy didn't meet them yet, so he believes there aren't any, thus he tells Sanji that there's only a crossdresser (Izo) :D

 **ScarletRoofs** : To spoil or not to spoil… Luffy, Rayleigh, Jinbe and Ace will go for sure, aye. If you're really curious I can tell you more on that part, but for now I shall leave it out (drop a line if you really want to know). Things are moving along slowly *coughs*

 **N** : Being a person that HATES waiting for any kind of updates, I always will apologize if I take longer than two weeks, though this time I really did not have the will to even sit at the PC. Either way, I am glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much :) I had felt that the sixth chapter was so much better (which also added to me not updating last time. I'm quite okay so far with how this chapter turned out, even though I am moving at a slug's pace in-story-time-wise (also irl wise…) Either way, hope to hear your opinion for the newest chapter as well (if you're still around) :)

 **The Richmaster** : Sabo staying… that was mostly my own wish. I don't think it would happen in canon and actually that pisses me off a big time. Nico Robin has probably spent more time with Sabo than Luffy who didn't even know him a full year. So yeah, that was one of the things where I went against canon on purpose (otherwise I try to just think of what could change, if Ace/WB were still alive and write from there). Why feel sorry for Chopper, and maybe I will add something later on for you ;) As for Garp… I probably will add a scene with him, but it will not be at Marineford. All the major Marines are busy keeping the peace after their spectacular failure. Also, if they met him there it would be as enemies, so probably not in the way you would like. As for Sengoku stepping down: with the war not happening, I am not sure. On one hand I wanna keep Punk Hazard (and would need to think of a damn good reason to still have it) on the other hand I don't want Akainu to become the new FA, but he still is in position, no matter whom Sengoku suggests. And again, I am sorry for keeping you waiting for this chapter :(

 **Friendly Reader** : Indeed friendly :D And yeah… I was waiting to find one, but nothing ever turned up so in the end I decided to try my hand on it on my own. So the longer story I am often talking about still is a time travel story *coughs* (there are darker themes in that story, but I do want to keep the OP feeling, so I started thinking about lighter things instead and had so many idea that wouldn't fit, that this story came up). Aynways, Shanks will come, I do have a plot bunny with him in mind. As for Luffy being hostile: he really isn't. He will fight Whitebeard, because Ace said they will have to fight, that's the only reason. As you probably can see in this chapter Luffy likes him quite a bit (like a grandfather maybe). The rest of your concerns will be addressed by Whitebeard in the story. He is also curious about why Luffy wants to fight him :)

 **pull harder** : not sure if I will adress it in the story but: Luffy is obivious to anything that isn't said directly in my eyes. He will react if you spell it out. And while I don't see him as someone who already was involved with someone else, I also don't see him as someone who has no clue. 1. He grew up on backstreets and in the grey terminal, 2. He has Sanji for a crewmate, 3. He appreciated Nami's body in canon, 4. He is 17 and a pirate, not having a clue about stuff seems completely illogical to me. So yeah… I have all the scenes in mind already, with Luffy actually going along. I just wonder if I will really write it or not :/ if I do it will be within the next 2 chapters (yes "fast", again, everything he does seems fast when we go by the time that passes in the story). And yeah… Dragon loves Luffy like a father, but doesn't know how to handle him at all, at least that's my opinion on this. He doesn't have an internal struggle however. He let Sabo stay XD

 **orionthranduilion** : At the moment I am not sure tbh. I'm surprised so many liked that tiny scene o . o

 **anaisntonfire** : I'm glad you enjoyed it so far :) I plan to do more than just to the two year gap. I have ideas up until Big Mom (though any fighting I will skip or minimalize it). As for afterwards: since I have a conclusion for Big Mom in mind it will be extremely different from anything Oda comes up with (after all WB is alive!) so I will leave it there (probably). I don't want to write about Raftel when I have no clue about it yet.

 **Miyavilurver** : Thanks so much! *bows* I really am trying to write them IC (at least the way that I see them), so hearing that makes me happy ^o^ Hope you'll still read this chapter!

 **rose7anne101** : I agree, I always am glad when reading stories where Ace lives. Though I have to say when writing the last chapter I realized how much his death still hurts me, especially since I keep rewatching things to get details for my story. As for future things: A lot of what you suggested is planned, though when it comes to WBP allies, I don't have Oars in mind… maybe I will add one, it could be quite cute. Well, I am curious what you think about Luffy's and Whitebeard's conversation :) it did happen, and Whitebeard spoiled him quite nicely.

 **zubhanwc3** : Ah… stretched versus packed, it's one of the things I have problems with. I don't see it getting much better, since I am writing mostly from one scene to the next. Ah well, I guess once they're off to train it will be the opposite again. Either way, thanks a lot for your review. Hope you liked the rest as well ^ ^

 **HOPE YOU ENJOY ^o^**

* * *

 **ON WITH THE STORY**

* * *

… …

(Family)

… …

* * *

For the rest of the day Luffy was in an extremely good mood. He felt so relieved after talking with his own crew. They all were well and somewhere safe, though it was a bit sad none of them had decided to train with him. Or maybe it was a good thing. Both Ace and Sabo were here, with just them and someone to train them like Garp had done it'd be like when they were kids.

Rayleigh had also put his other worries to rest. Had any of the others been caught, they would have written about it in the newspaper. There wouldn't be any better way to force Luffy out of his _hiding_ place after all, even Luffy had to agree and see the logic in his theory. Or maybe not see the logic, but Rayleigh promised they hadn't been caught so that was that.

Mind set at ease the younger boy finally wanted to show them the ship Franky had built. He'd only been on it for a minute or two before in order to get some exchange clothes, then he had hopped back to the Moby Dick. Now though it was his turn to lead Ace, Sabo and Rayleigh around, not that it'd take nearly as long as Ace's tour had. Quite a few commanders, Jinbe and even Whitebeard had joined them for the small tour. Most of them had been on the ship once after Rayleigh's tale had made the rounds, no one had stayed for long.

Their first experience couldn't be compared to what they experienced now when the young captain entered the ship, telling them loudly how Franky and Ice-ossan had built their ship for them and how it had been Ice's idea to name her Thousand Sunny. Once the young captain stepped onto the deck the ship's atmosphere changed at once. Any trace of spookiness, all those creaking noises vanished and the whole air around it seemed to come alive and welcome them.

Rayleigh's eyes lit up as the ship once again became as friendly as the crew he had met on Sabaody Archipelago. "It's truly a magnificent ship."

This earned him a bright smile from his future student. "Of course she is! Sunny is awesome. She can shoot beams too!"

"Didn't you have another one in Alabasta?" Ace inquired. If his memory served right, the ship had been cute, quite a bit smaller and fitting for his little brother's small crew. He supposed since the crew grew it became too small.

"Merry, but we were stupid. We didn't have a shipwright before, so Ice-ossan said that she couldn't be repaired and that she couldn't sail anymore. But Merry still came to save us and help rescue Robin, so she was still able to sail. Even Ice-ossan said he'd never seen such an amazing ship." That certainly wasn't the answer Ace had expected. Luffy was a bit upset, however not too much. There was not a single tear in his eyes.

"What do you mean she came to save you?" Sabo wanted to get a better explanation.

Luffy wrinkled his nose, obviously not happy about recounting something that was in the past, but it was _Sabo_ who had asked. "Well, when we went to Enies Lobby, because that pigeon guy and some others stole Robin, we used that cool train, but then we couldn't go back anymore and there were so many Marines and some vice admirals and the stupid Marines destroyed the ship we wanted to steal and I couldn't help the others anymore, so Merry came and saved us."

"Wait a sec, you mean to tell us that your old ship came, on its _own_ , and saved you guys?" Izo asked disbelieving.

"Yes." If Izo hadn't discovered first hand just how bad a liar Straw Hat was, he'd have believed Luffy was lying through his teeth. – The brat had given his brother's the slip once again and had been in the process of raiding their kitchen, two hours after breakfast. Izo had found and _questioned_ him before returning him to a freaked out Ace – who hadn't bothered looking in the kitchen, _two hours after breakfast!_ The kid had been such a bad liar that Izo had been hard pressed not to outright laugh at the other. Seriously, what kind of pirate couldn't even lie?! Ace certainly wasn't troubled by it and Sabo had it down to an art if his betting was anything to go by.

"It was a Klabautermann." Rayleigh said matter-of-factly, as if he wasn't just telling them a legend was real.

"No it wasn't." Luffy denied. "It was Merry! Why do you think some weird man would come and bring Merry to us? Even Nami and the others didn't want to believe that it was Merry at first. Franky also said something weird about that man."

"The Klabautermann was the spirit of Merry." Marco tried to explain.

Luffy blinked. "Why would Merry be a man? Merry was a girl and Merry was Merry, not some Klauman."

Marco sighed heavily before resigning in favor of getting on with the story. "So the K- Merry came and got you and then?"

"Then no one believed that it was Merry on her own, even though no one else was there and we all had been on Enies Lobby. She brought us back to Ice-ossan's ship… and that was where we had to bury her. She apologized, even though it was our fault."

"Your ship talked to you!?" Ivankov exclaimed doubtful.

"Yeah, even Ice-ossan and the others from Galley-La heard her then. It was sad. Franky later on told us that Merry's soul was now on the Sunny and she feels the same too. It definitely is Merry, she got stronger too."

"So that's why you're not more upset." Sabo concluded.

"I was at first." Both older brothers could imagine this only too well.

"Sounds like you got a good ship there, brat." Whitebeard eyed the Thousand Sunny with renewed interest. He and Rayleigh had already guessed that a Klabautermann was on the ship. Why else would no one feel comfortable on it, when there was no reason not to? Whitebeard himself hadn't been on the ship before, however almost all of his sons, who'd not been sent off, went to check it out at one time or another. The ship now only emitted a friendly atmosphere and welcomed them, while before none of his sons had wanted to stay there for an extended period.

His youngest brat smiled widely in agreement then excitedly ushered them inside what appeared to be a girl's room. It was nice and cozy, with more than enough room for the two female members of the Straw Hat crew. Usually the brat wasn't allowed inside. Their navigator was hoarding most of their treasure here.

"Ah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that though. Uhm… forget about all of that then." He laughed.

"We're pirates." Marco whispered furiously to Ace. "Is he really that-" Marco was cut off by Ace's glare. "Right… naïve… and a bit stupid..."

"Luffy! You shouldn't tell us such secrets!" Ace was completely exasperated.

"Shishishi" the brat laughed. "It wasn't a secret. Our whole crew knows."

"We're not your crew! Don't tell strangers!" Ace yelled.

"Okay." Luffy easily agreed then turned to Ace's crewmates. "You are not strangers. And you wouldn't steal from us, right?"

"… W- we won't." Blenheim stuttered, when no one knew how to reply, too shocked by the captain's naivety and idiocy. All of the others were quick to nod along with that, unable to say anything else, faced with such an expectant and trusting smile. The more they got to know the young captain, the more they understood why Ace was constantly worried. Sabo on the other hand was shaking with laughter at everyone's reaction, and so was Rayleigh.

"Your navigator sure likes treasure." Whitebeard stated taking a look at the insides of the chest (which Luffy didn't mind).

"Aye, she'd beat you if you dared to take something and then steal everything from you as revenge. Ah, you're strong, right? In that case she might be too scared and maybe just steal when you're not looking." The young captain laughed, when a treasure was involved Nami was unpredictable.

Whitebeard however bent down and laid a small pouch with gold coins into the treasure chest. "Let's leave that here for when she comes back."

"Huh? You're a pirate, right? Don't you want to keep your treasure? Well, she will love you for it, but you're strange."

" _You_ shouldn't be the one to say that!" Blenheim, Fossa and Izo shouted at the same time, though none took Luffy's sentence as an insult, seeing that their father laughed loudly. The brat lacked any common sense and manners and Whitebeard liked him all the more for it. How could he not when his already adopted son, who was usually so quick to fight and argue, was happy and affectionate with his brothers. On top of that he fretted about the younger whenever the brat did something exceptionally stupid once again. Watching this was quickly becoming one of his favorite pastimes. It was a real pity Rayleigh had decided to train the kid once he was healed.

As they went on Luffy showed them to the men's quarters, where his own bed was hanging from the ceiling. Most of the crew's wanted posters were there and Sabo decided he'd put up Ace's and Luffy's in his own room once he returned there as well (Ace already had several pictures of Luffy and of course his most recent wanted poster).

"You don't sleep in the captain's cabin?!" Fossa blurted out shocked.

"Why would I want to sleep on my own? Franky also asked if I wanted my own room. It's much nicer with everyone else. I wanted to have all of our beds next to each other. I don't know why Usopp was afraid I'd kick him again… really weird, I never kick Ace and Sabo when I sleep." Luffy shrugged confused.

"Of course you don't." Ace stated. The only way to keep Luffy from tossing and turning was to hug him, so he would cuddle close. There was no need for anyone else to know this however.

"So how come you have your own room?" Luffy asked Ace curiously.

"All division commanders have. The rest bunk together." Ace was quite glad to have his own room. It was fitting for Luffy to sleep in the same room as the rest of his crew, however. He hated being alone more than anything after all.

The grimace that now made its way onto Luffy's face proved this. "But then what do you do when you go to bed? Isn't it boring to wait on your own until you fall asleep? We always talk right up to the moment I'm asleep."

"Unsurprisingly." Luffy probably fell asleep halfway through saying something. "I only go to my room to sleep or to have a few minutes to myself. The rest of the time I spend with all the others anyway."

"Then why do you need a room to sleep?" Luffy didn't understand this at all. "Or don't they wanna talk to you?"

"They do, all the time." Ace rolled his eyes. Leave it to Luffy to think he was excluded. Quite the opposite, he liked having a bit of time to himself now and then. As a division commander this wasn't easily achieved.

"Having your own room can be quite nice sometimes." Sabo agreed with Ace. He also had his own room at their base, though during missions they often enough shared rooms or slept somewhere outside together anyway.

"Well that's okay then." The wrinkles between Luffy's eyebrows vanished instantly, despite not understanding his brothers at all. As long as they liked it everything was fine.

"I'll still sleep with you and Sabo, so you won't be alone." Luffy decided with a grin. Ace hit his head, but didn't argue against it. He had already considered moving to the Sunny along with his brother, if Luffy had decided to come back here from now on. Sabo wouldn't even have had to think about it. None of them were comfortable with letting each other out of sight yet, even if they didn't talk or consciously spent time with each other.

"Who knows what you'd do, if we didn't. Probably break all your vows about staying out of problems until Trafalgar Law gave his ok." Sabo shook his head and pushed Luffy out again, so he led them into his personal favorite room, the kitchen.

"I'm usually banned from here and Sanji won't allow me to help. And can you imagine they put a lock on the storage room and the fridge too, even though I am the captain!" Leave it to Luffy to talk about being the captain when it came to food.

"It's called survival tactic." Izo deadpanned.

"But now all the food we stored is going bad. It'd be so much better if I had the key!" Luffy bemoaned the wasted food.

"Here, let me help." Vista offered and made quick work off the locks.

"SO GREAT!" Luffy excitedly exclaimed, stars in his eyes.

"It's rather easy to pick locks." Jinbe told him.

"Most on our crew can do it, we're pirates after all." Blenheim added.

"Really?! You have to teach me that!" The teen beamed brightly at Vista as he hung from his arm now.

"That would leave nothing for the rest of your crew to eat, yoi." Marco was ever the voice of reason. He was also the one who had seen how much the younger could eat, every single time he ate (which was at five times a day, _small_ snacks in between not counting).

Luffy ignored him in favor of focusing his expectant and hopeful smile on Visa who now visibly sweated. He couldn't say yes, the crew would die, but those eyes, and were those sparkles coming towards him now?! He looked to the usually very reliable first division commander who was smirking right now. Damn, he shouldn't have made fun of him before.

"Well you know… Fossa here is a lot better at teaching things to other." He diverted the attention to his fellow commander who was now glaring daggers at him as he tried to weasel his way out of teaching the brat how to pick locks. The rest of the straw hats would surly curse them all if they died on the open sea due to lack of food. None of them wanted to be hunted by vengeful spirits.

Both brothers meanwhile were laughing, quite nastily in Vista's eyes. All of them had made fun of their treatment of Luffy before. It was just too great a chance for Ace and Sabo to have some payback. Finally their also chuckling father had mercy on them (the same could not be said about the brat's actual teacher) and asked Straw Hat to show him his where he had put the fish Sabo had caught for him earlier this morning. Thank god the brat was lacking in the attention department as well, or who knows how this would have ended. Their father was so reliable, coming up with a diversion that also included food!

"You will like this. The aquarium bar is sooo beautiful. But you mustn't put sharks in it or the other fish will get eaten."

"That would be a pity." Their father expertly handled the situation and got Luffy to take them down to the indeed very beautiful aquarium bar. Luckily for all involved the rest of the tour was quite nice and Luffy was a better guide than story teller. The ship, though small, was perfect for the small crew that lived on it. All of them loved the bathhouse and Whitebeard considered getting one on the Moby Dick as well. He was sure they'd meet the crew once their individual training was finished, so maybe he could ask the Straw Hat's shipwright to get together with his own sons and come up with something.

In the end all of them agreed that they loved the deck. It was unique and had something very relaxing about it. They could well imagine lying on the grass while peacefully sailing to their next destination. Ace's favorite room was the aquarium bar, while Sabo preferred the library.

Rayleigh at the end decided to stay on the Thousand Sunny. With the captain's approval the ship probably wouldn't be hostile anymore, which Rayleigh thought was a bit sad, it had been such an interesting experience after all. Still, a welcoming Sunny was nice and homely.

Whitebeard of course had also offered a place to stay, but both of them knew Rayleigh wouldn't accept unless there was no other option. He liked drinking with the other old man and spending time on the Moby Dick, but sleeping on the ship was something he just couldn't bring himself to do. Whitebeard had been Roger's, _their_ biggest rival, it'd feel like betraying his captain in a way. Better stay on the ship of his student, who excitedly had offered him his own bed (as well as his company, but he'd had to decline that one. He didn't want to upset the older brothers after all).

… …

In the evening all ships from the Whitebeard Pirates assembled again at long last. The last of their allied crews in Paradise had found their way back, their islands were still well protected, maybe even more so than before (the Marines had taken the fall after all, it would be foolish to attack right now) and finally the ship who was sent out to bring back their female crewmembers had arrived at the island too. Coupled with Ace's return and the little brat's recovery (he finally could stay awake for more than four or five hours) this called for a huge party.

It wasn't often that the whole family came together. Most of the time their ships were busy defending their territories, fighting other crews or Marines. Of course they all were there to fight for their commander, but such occasions didn't happen all that often, which honestly was a good thing too.

What was even more seldom was that anyone else was invited to join such a family celebration, much less an at-the-moment-friendly crew as well as a few stray (unfriendly) pirates like Crocodile and Daz Bones (though he mostly joined to talk with the newly returned shipwrights, who promised to build a small ship for him, as payment for his help in Ace's escape.)

The Heart Pirates needed a bit of time to get used to the whole force of the Whitebeard Pirates. The Kuja Pirates were also there. However unlike their other guests, they didn't mingle with the men and only invited their female crewmates over. Many of the men were just waiting for the moment when the Empress would join the people which had gathered around the brat.

Rayleigh was drinking with Whitebeard, Jinbe and some of the older crewmembers. It was also Ivankov's last evening there, so the okama made sure to celebrate accordingly before some other revolutionist would pick him up in the wee hours of the morning (Sabo wondered about the unlucky soul, tasked with this mission. It certainly wouldn't be fun to pull the most likely hungover revolutionist back to Dragon. Good thing it wasn't him, he happily joined Ace and Luffy).

During the party both Sabo and Luffy were finally introduced to all of the commanders. Some of them they had met already (and forgotten again, Luffy more so than Sabo, who had already been informed about all of the Yonkos). Marco was happy to note that they indeed remembered his name, which soon became apparent was not guaranteed to happen. Kingdew and Izo had to reintroduce themselves, as was the case for Fossa. Ace was glad to notice Sabo focusing on them, Luffy was a lost case. He would be lucky if Luffy remembered half of them. Hopefully the others wouldn't be too disappointed about that. Knowing his crewmates this was doubtful however.

"How come you remember Marco's name, but not mine?" Fossa was annoyed. After all, he had helped the brat get into contact with his crew, Marco hadn't been around him much more than him either, at least not while the brat was awake.

"And there we go." Ace wondered just how he was always right when it came to such things. The only thing he had been wrong about was who. He'd imagined Izo and Haruta to be the pissed off ones, but then again, it had been Fossa (and Kingdew) who'd had to deal with the threats from Luffy's crewmembers. Maybe it came along with being a Whitebeard Pirate, but they certainly weren't used to being talked to like this. The old man however had laughed heartily about it, which was confusing, he normally didn't allow others to be impolite, no matter who they were.

Then Luffy decided to answer while picking in his nose. "Ace told me to remember his name."

"Ace!" Several commanders growled.

"Oh come on, it wouldn't even have worked if Marco wasn't the one to give him back his hat. Had you shown him how to pick locks he would have remembered! Don't drag me into this!" Ace defended (why the hell did Luffy have to say that?!)

"That was nice of him. After all, I mustn't lose it. And you still have to teach me how to pick the locks!" Those who had joined him at once avoided looking at the brat and rather stared at each other, praying someone else would say something.

"So how come you don't remember my name, Mugiwara-ya." Their savior came in form of another guest. Law was honestly curious about how Luffy worked. He didn't really mind the idiotic captain to not remember, but by their reasoning he should have had good chances to be remembered.

"I do, Taralf- … Trafla… Ah, Torao. I'll just call you Torao." Perhaps Law shouldn't have asked, he already regretted it. Remembering his name, but being too stupid to pronounce it was most likely the worst reason ever to mutilate his name like this. Judging by their annoying laughing everyone else thought it hilarious.

"Don't disrespect our captain!" The ever faithful Bepo shouted at him.

"I'm not. I like Torao!" Luffy pat the bear's head. "But more importantly, what's your name?"

"Bepo. I'm sorry." Bepo bowed.

"More importantly, Bepo, do you want to joi-"

"Why do you remember his name and not ours?" Fossa asked enraged at the same time as Law told Luffy off for trying to steal _his_ crewmember.

"But he is a bear." Luffy whined to both of them.

" _My_ bear." Emphasized Law, causing Bepo to blush.

"Don't worry captain. I'll always be a Heart Pirate."

"Somehow I feel excluded." Shachi complained.

"Are you sure you want to be included? They seem kind of… hmm… riiight." Penguin was more than happy to be ignored by all these rather insane people. He also wasn't sure he would want to be the focus of the Straw Hat captain's interest. He was rather intense and the people he focused on were altogether crazy. Nico Robin, the demon child known for her backstabbing ways aside, he had a Pirate Hunter as first mate, his own shifting raccoon and even a freaking skeleton. Penguin only wondered what he had planned to do with Bepo, who was now hiding behind their captain and Jean Bart.

Their own navigator was saved just in time when two more of the Whitebeard commanders brought some huge trays with Sea King meat. Apparently the fishman's division had gone out to hunt for the party and heeded Ace's warning (and the Shichibukai's demand) and brought two Sea Kings, which in Penguin's eyes was a bit over the top, one would have been more than enough.

The moment Straw Hat smelled the food he apparently tuned out anything else, focusing only on the dishes. Ace, who was still being glared at by his half of the present commanders (after they stopped laughing at the Heart Pirate's captain) got his own little revenge. "Those two, who are in charge of bringing your food, are called Atmos and Blenheim. You should remember them, in case you want to eat more."

"Got it." Luffy didn't take his eyes of the meat, so Ace wasn't all that sure, but that didn't matter when faced with the dulcet shouts coming from the others. It was totally worth it in his books. As Luffy's whole focus shifted to the delicious meat, Sabo sat down next to him, apparently done with his own introductions.

"At least they don't take it personal." Sabo laughed. He'd been a bit worried about that. Luffy wasn't polite to begin with, but not remembering the names of the _commanders_ of one of the most infamous pirate crews ever could be taken the wrong way. He knew that some of his fellow leaders in the revolutionary army would indeed be pissed. They probably wouldn't dare to say so, if his heritage was ever discovered.

"They blame me. There was no way in hell Luffy would remember more than five names. I can be happy if he has all of them down when he leaves for training." Both of them were digging in as well now. With as many people around there was enough competition for the food, especially now that all three of them were hungry. The snack on the Thousand Sunny was ages ago and not nearly enough for them. It was like in good old times, with each of them stealing from each other and everyone around included.

"Why wouldn't he remember them?" Jinbe questioned. "He didn't have any problems with either my or Ivankov's name and he also remembered Inazuma pretty well, though he gave him his own nickname."

"That's only a handful of people to start with, Ivankov saved his life, Inazuma was a great help as well and you're a fishman… or maybe it was because you were with me, it's difficult to say." Ace explained.

"What does being a fishman have to do with anything?" Jinbe asked. The ex-Shichibukai wasn't worried about being hated by the young captain anymore. The moment the Straw Hat captain had laid eyes on him again he had hugged him happily and thanked him profusely, honestly grateful about his help in both their escape and his surgery. He was still curious about the super rookie however.

"It's unusual." Sabo managed in between bites. His eating habits were rather revolting, though unlike both Ace and Luffy at least his manners were a bit better. He didn't talk with his mouth full, neither did he fall asleep with his head in his plate and then continue once he woke up again.

"Indeed. The stranger the better." Ace concurred. "Just take a look at his crew, they have an animal as a doctor, he's only worth 100 Beri, I'm sure the Marines thought he was a pet since he looks cute."

"I see. So he will probably remember Namur too." concluded Jinbe.

"Vista." Izo spoke up all of a sudden. "He already was rather taken by his beard."

"I bet he remembers you." Rayleigh also joined. "He noticed you before, I think he said something about you being pretty."

"Stop making bets concerning my brother!" Ace shouted angrily.

"It's all in good fun. No money on the line now." Sabo grinned. There were too many options to make a bet. The Whitebeard Pirates had quite a few _unusual_ people after all. "Whom do you think?"

"Jiru. He resembles a knight and always has his shield and spear around." Ace gave in.

"Good reasoning. Well in that case I say Jozu, he's tall and shiny, at least if he uses his ability. If he doesn't then indeed Atmos for bringing all the food."

"You're seriously betting on Luffy?" Haruta had some difficulties believing his ears.

"Nope. There's no money involved. At least that's one thing even we can't be too sure on, so it's better not to bet." Ace shrugged. "The only rule for Luffy is the stranger the better."

"And for some reason whoever Luffy notices has either some strength or is involved in some shit that's about to happen, or both. Makes you wonder if he has some sort of sixth sense for whom to talk to, to get thrown into the next dangerous situation." Sabo added.

"Indeed. He'll love the New World's Log Pose, that's guaranteed." Ace glanced at the now balloon-formed Luffy.

"I pity his crew." Haruta commented. "So back to whom he notices, by your explanation I'd say Marco."

"Marco doesn't count. Luffy already knows him, so Marco can get his attention easily enough." Ace objected.

"Aww, his devil fruit ability is one of the best."

In the end all of them were wrong however. The moment Blamenco took out his mallet of his body pocket Luffy was hooked.

"DISHISH ASHM!" Luffy yelled, spraying food all over those near him.

"HEY!" Ace and Sabo managed to avoid getting hit just in time, having expected this the moment he started to wave in excitement. Most of the others weren't as lucky, with bits and pieces of the brat's meal landing in Izo's hair, who now looked ready to lynch the boy.

"Shorry." Luffy apologized to Izo as the other got up to throw him into the water.

"Either eat or talk!" Sabo chided, carefully moving between him and the crossdresser.

Luffy's brows furrowed and Sabo was sure he would have pouted if he didn't have his mouth stuffed with food, successfully imitating a hamster.

"Bsht-" Ace's hand shot out to cover his mouth. "Stop that! One at a time!"

Luffy's eyes landed on Blamenco who now had turned back towards them, wondering what had gotten the small captain so agitated. He had stopped chewing, his whole face was red now, steam coming from his ears.

"Are you alright?" he put his mallet back into his body, crouching down next to the small captain, who was staring at him. "Did I hit you by accident? Sorry!" He reached out to pat the teen, but was stopped by Ace who intercepted his hand automatically.

"Ace?"

"Oh… sorry… But don't worry about it" Ace waved him off "He's thinking too hard about whether to eat or talk to you about something most likely stupid."

As thanks for his efforts Luffy bit him after swallowing (and was flicked by a burning finger in return). "It's not stupid!" Then he pat the ground next to them. "Sit!" He grinned at Blamenco expectantly.

"What did you want from Blamenco then?" Luffy had only noticed the commander after he had taken out his mallet, so it was sure to be something about his ability. In the next moment Luffy was sitting on the other commander, staring closely at his face, or more accurately his pockets.

"They're so tiny!" Luffy yelled. "Ace did you see?!"

"No." Ace deadpanned. "I've only been in his crew for two years, I never even knew."

"This is the _best_ ability ever!" Luffy stressed talking to Blamenco. "I thought mine was awesome, but yours might be even better."

"Uhm…" Blamenco gestured at Ace for help, not daring to throw the bandaged brat off, who was now poking at his body pockets and trying to see what was inside them. Ace wouldn't react kindly, neither would the blond revolutionist.

The cheeky commander grinned and stole some more food from the brat's plate.

"How does it work? I don't see the mallet anymore! Can you store anything inside? This is so cool!" Blamenco scratched his chin, not sure how to react to the brat.

"Well… I can store things inside. And yeah… more or less everything." He answered after some uncomfortable minutes, though the brat didn't seem to have noticed.

His answer appeared to be the right thing to say, for he vibrated and glowed even more.

"This is sooo brilliant!" The brat cheered and turned to his brothers. "Just imagine how much food I could store like this!"

"I knew it!" Ace barked at the same time as Sabo burst into laughter. "As expected."

" _That's_ what you were thinking about?" Marco raised his eyebrows.

"Sanji won't allow me my special backpack full of food when we go on an adventure. He says it'd get in the way and there is only so much I can carry in the pockets of my pants or my hands." Luffy reasoned.

"You put food into the pockets of your pants, yoi." Marco repeated skeptically.

"Where else would I put it? I only have two hands." Luffy looked at him as if he was crazy.

Loud coughing interrupted Marco from whatever he was about to say. Vista had been about to drink some fine sake, when Luffy had so nicely and indirectly insulted Marco, a feat not too many people managed, much less without any intention. The result was him loud laughing, coughing and spilling half of the content of his sake bottle. He regretted nothing.

"Here drink a bit, brat." Blenheim chuckled and handed him his own sake cup, but Luffy preferred some more meat which he got. "Not much of a drinker, ey?"

"Food is better."

"So are you going to try and steal Blamenco now?" Haruta wondered.

"Hmmm, I'd like to." Luffy grinned. "His ability is sooo awesome, we could change, what do you say?"

"Errr…" Blamenco cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable under the brat's scrutiny. "Even though yours is… great… I would still keep mine, even if it was possible to change."

Luffy nodded, totally understanding this. Maybe it was a good thing it wasn't possible anyway. His own power fit him well and it had been a gift from Shanks, so he couldn't let anyone else have it no matter what anyway. "Well either way, if Ace decides to leave one day you'll join my crew, right?"

"I won't leave!" Ace declared at once. "And besides, why should he join then?"

"Because I want him too." Luffy _explained_ at once. "But not before you leave. You're happy here, right? If you like it here, these guys all must be great, and you'd be sad if one left, right? So it's better to wait until then, and if that time doesn't come that's okay too. I know you're alright that way and that's the most important thing."

A moment of utter silence followed that statement before Vista raised his glass "To you, Straw Hat!" and was followed by all who'd been listening in.

"I want a brother like that as well." Haruta muttered. There were nods of agreement all around.

"Sorry. We're not sharing." Sabo smiled _pleasantly_ at them as Ace retrieved Luffy from Blamenco.

"How can you say such things with a straight face?" Ace stuffed Luffy's mouth with food to keep him from answering his rhetorical question. The things his little brother said, while totally touching, were completely embarrassing – especially in front of others, like for example his whole crew, adoptive father included.

"Seriously Ace, how can a guy like this be your brother?" Blenheim voiced the question most had secretly asked themselves once they had seen the kid for themselves, he was way too cheerful and friendly, totally lacking manners however.

"Hey! I had to fight for it!" Luffy told Blenheim off angrily, this time not apologizing for the food that landed on him. "Ace won't change his mind anymore!"

"… That's not what I meant at all." Blenheim wiped his face clean as he tried to placate Luffy, who'd completely misunderstood and was glaring daggers at him.

One glance around told him that everyone, except Marco, was just as surprised at what the brat had implied. They had known Ace could be difficult to get along with, but never ever had they considered the walking brother-complex to not be affectionate and overprotective of the kid. This was just one of the things that one didn't question. Did the brat really have to fight for Ace to like him? By the way the older shifted uncomfortable it really might have happened. Blenheim wasn't the only one who had trouble grasping this new concept.

"I don't think Ace even thought about changing his mind, you misunderstood. You're brothers. I know… we know." Blenheim finally continued as the glare didn't lessen at all.

"Ah, okay then." Luffy nodded, albeit not nearly as enthusiastic as Blenheim would have liked.

"Don't worry Luffy, we're not going to give you away. Though by the way you talk I could almost believe you only care about Ace." Sabo teased.

"Don't worry, I love you just as much! Sabo and Ace are my most important people." Luffy left both of them completely flustered, as he hugged Sabo for dear life.

Though the teen was obviously responsible for a lot of stress their second division commander had to endure (after talking to the brat no one doubted the stories of Enies Lobby or Impel Down anymore), was apparently a bit of an idiot (who in their right mind would tell Whitebeard about their plan to fight him and then fall asleep the next moment) and rude, he was also completely honest and straight forward, the opposite of how Ace or really most people who reached their teens were. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. It was so very refreshing that most of them agreed with Haruta, when he repeated how he also wanted a brother like this, annoyances, pre-mature death or heart attacks be damned. They were pirates, who knew when they'd die anyway.

… …

Later that night, or more accurately in the very early hours of the morning Whitebeard bade goodbye to one of the guests his not yet official son had brought along. The revolutionists were quite the punctual bunch, and a young lad had to drag a rather sickly Ivankov towards their little ship, with the help of one of the pirates on watch-duty as they were the only ones still awake, not counting Whitebeard.

As if called the brat reappeared on the deck. He saw Ivankov being hauled off, ran over and hugged the at the moment woman goodbye, while telling him to greet his father for him. The poor drunk was almost dropped into the ocean at the answer that yes, Dragon would want to hear all about him anyway. Obviously the other revolutionist hadn't been informed about the brat's parentage and was chewed out by the teen for hurting his friend. His own help was questionable if one went by the loud groan and shaky movements as Ivankov held both his ears once the shouting started, suffering through his headache. Whitebeard felt thoroughly entertained watching everything from his chair.

The kid turned around and blinked several times once the two revolutionists had left and Luffy's shouting into the distance had stopped. Bless his sons for being drunk and fast asleep (the brat's lungs were something else.)

"Did you come here to say goodbye to your friend?" The older captain called loudly. If the brats yelling hadn't woken his sons, his own voice surely wouldn't.

"You're still awake." The kid skidded over to him, bright smile in place.

"So are you." Whitebeard returned and the kid laughed as he came to a halt in front of him.

"Ace fell asleep during the feast." He _replied_. It was true too. Ace had finally relaxed enough for his narcolepsy to kick in. No one had realized how tense the fire user had been until he fell on top of Luffy, as he tried to save Blamenco from the excited teen (though Whitebeard also suspected a tiny bit of jealousy there). The kid had taken it in good humor and cuddled up against him, falling asleep some minutes later, mouth still stuffed with food. The tallest of the three had soon joined them, instead of carrying either back inside.

"Aye. Boa Hancock was happy to help you get back to your room." Whitebeard grinned. The woman had come over and been quite taken by the sight of the three sleeping. When his men wanted to help them back to their beds, because of the cold temperature at night, she had argued with them until she herself had seen Luffy to bed.

"She did? She's so nice!" Luffy grinned.

"Gurarara. Try infatuated."

"She's not fat! She looks really good too." Whitebeard shook his head.

"I meant she is in love with you. She even talked about marriage, didn't she?" The older man was sure he'd heard her talk about it a few times already.

"Eh? She did?! She only said she would make a good wife! She didn't say anything about me!" And now the Yonko almost felt bad for one of his enemies (or maybe she wasn't one anymore). Ace had actually understated his brother's obliviousness.

"She did." He replied.

"So that's why… thanks for telling me. I'll have to tell her, I'm not going to marry her so she can find someone else." The cheerful manner the kid said this with was guilt inducing indeed. Half his sons would kill to hold even a tiny bit of her affection, yet the one whom she would give it to didn't even consider it for a moment.

A loud growl interrupted Whitebeard's next question.

"I didn't get to finish eating because Ace fell asleep. I am so hungry now." Luffy explained. His usual sleep-eating technique had not worked with his face pressed against his older brother's chest. The half-mink had most likely enjoyed the hug too much to move.

With the bottomless pit awake it would probably be impossible to continue their conversation so he reminded the brat that their kitchen was unlocked.

"I went there, but no one was around, and I've already eaten all the fruits and the bread. I came here to see if the sea king was still around. Can't you call one of the cooks?" Whitebeard laughed. With this kid around it had really become necessary get locks for the doors to their food storage, though he wondered how long they would survive with Ace around.

"All my sons are sleeping, so it might be a bit difficult. Do you want to wake up Ace instead?"

"No! They are sleeping now." Luffy vehemently declined.

"How about fishing then?"

The brat pouted. "I promised Ace and Sabo not to fish or fight marines until Torao says I can."

"Too bad. You can't go breaking promises. So how about I join you and make sure nothing happens?" Whitebeard suggested and was rewarded with a very happy grin.

"That's great. It's no fun to fish on my own anyway. Usually Chopper and Usopp join me, or Robin stays on deck to talk to. Zoro sleeps nearby so we won't drown if we fall into the water."

"Do you often fall into the water?" Whitebeard had to ask that question.

"Hmm… every now and then. I got used to fishing so it hardly ever happens anymore. Most of the time I can stretch so I don't fall in. If I fall then the others are getting me out really fast anyway. It's funny when Brook or Chopper try to and forget that they are devil fruit users as well." Luffy laughed loudly as Whitebeard moved his chair so he could sit close enough in case the young captain really fell in. It was the first time he heard about devil fruit users trying to save someone from drowning. What a chaotic little crew it must be!

"Do you miss your crew?" Whitebeard was honestly curious about that.

"They are safe and Zoro sounded a lot better, so it's okay. I missed Ace and Sabo more. And Sabo was dead too! It'll be fun to meet again after we all got stronger!" The older one nodded glad he wasn't upset. He'd already assumed that Luffy was as focused on his brothers as they were on him, though it showed in a different way.

Fishing with the kid had been easy (there were enough big fish this close to the calm belt) for one to take the bait within half an hour, grilling it however was anything but. He'd heard tales about Sanji and after ten minutes could only congratulate the cook for banning the kid from the kitchen. Anyone with even a few brain cells would have had to do that. Not only was he a menace with spices (his motto was 'the more the better'), but he was also impatient and kept whining for his fish to hurry up and be edible. Only when his cute little dog Stefan joined them on deck and stole a smaller (edible) fish did the brat stop pestering him in favor of chasing after his dog.

At least one member of his crew was unlikely to be taken by the boy, though who knew. He had also believed some of the commanders didn't like him at the beginning and yet once they had the chance to see how incredible open minded and affectionate he was they accepted him easily. He fit right in with the rest of them.

"If you don't want anything I'll just eat it on my own!" He called once the bigger fish was also ready to be eaten. Immediately the brat was standing next to him, dog in his arms, tousled hair, bite mark on the nose and drool dripping from his mouth. Stefan looked rather similar all things considered.

"SHISH ISH SHO GOOOD!" The older captain watched fondly as the food vanished in a matter of minutes.

"Thanks so much! This should help until breakfast!" There was a bit of admiration in the brat's eyes now and Whitebeard laughed. A lot of people admired him, but certainly not for his culinary expertise, which admittedly was very limited.

"I can't cook at all, but I like any kind of meat so I can survive, even if I don't know how to do much else than let it roast. Ace has it so good being able to roast it so quickly!"

"You know how to survive, that's the most important thing." Whitebeard grinned.

"Aye." The brat grinned brightly. "I really-"

Anything else the brat wanted to say was forgotten as he started glowing and beaming, staring up into the sky. "MY CROW!"

"What crow?" Whitebeard looked up as well, but didn't see anything special, maybe some strange owls as they were near an Island, a Southbird, but nothing overly special could be made out, so maybe Luffy saw something different behind the mast.

"My blue crow-bird! I want it on my crew… or eat it!" Then it was over in a second. One moment he was sparkling more brightly than Jozu's diamond body on a sunny day, the next he was gone, having rocketed off into the sky, following whatever bird he had seen there, at an angle where Whitebeard was sure that no matter what the brat would drop into the water, if he managed to drag the bird down and wasn't dragged away himself.

Before Whitebeard could do more than consider the pros and cons of covering the ocean surface with haki (which would hurt the brat to land on and might reopen his wound) or leave it as it was (which would mean the brat would be drowning for the time it'd take for one of his sons to pull him out and most likely reopen his wound as well), there was a loud thud followed by a yell and cawing. A moment later the kid emitted a panicked shriek when the birds head went up in flames all of a sudden. Whitebeard sighed in relieve.

Marco the Phoenix laid on the ground burning heavily, being squished under his youngest. He must have redirected them and cushioned the fall of the brat, whom he had shielded from his own stupidity. His brat was safe. While the Phoenix was obviously hurt and extremely tired, or he wouldn't have ended up in this position, he would be fine as well, bless him.

"CHOPPER!" The kid shouted in panick. "He's burning! Water! Should I throw him into the ocean?!"

Luffy ran over to the railing, when Whitebeard ordered him to stop. "Calm down now, he isn't-"

"A doctor! He saved my life! It's my fault he caught fire. I don't wanna eat him anymore! Doc- TORAO!"

Luffy raced over to the other side of the deck holding the Phoenix firmly in one arm, the bird's neck was bent at a slightly odd angle, and stopped abruptly to let his arm stretch towards the other ship. Unlike before his aim was perfect now. A moment later he landed on the submarine, entering without permission all the while shouting loudly for the surgeon to appear, somewhere between three and four in the morning.

Edward Newgate sighed loudly amidst the suppressed laughter of a few of his children, who had been close enough to watch the entire fall of their first division commander. Even Marco's feathers might be ruffled after this experience, Whitebeard thought as he contemplated on whether or not to do some damage control or watch the newest mishap his brat had gotten into right now.

… …

* * *

… …

* * *

Okies, chapter done. The last scene isn't finished so I can already guarantee that it will pick up on Torao's ship.

 **About Whitebeard giving Nami a little pouch** : the pouch wasn't really for Nami. It was Whitebeard's way of saying to everyone that this treasure was off limits and that no one was to talk about Luffy's naïve trust, or worse, to use it – not that he believed anyone would do it anyway, he trusts his sons. Still some of his other sons might get curious and since Luffy wouldn't mind them looking at his ship or treasure he left it there. His pouch with his mark is sign enough to any of his sons that this was to be left untouched (they wouldn't steal from Luffy, but they might look through things and Whitebeard doesn't want that). It also contained a small note to Nami with orders (yes, he doesn't ask!) to use this money for his son.

 **Blamenco / Whitebeard Pirates and stereotypes** : Honestly, I'm not really interested in Blamenco, from all the WB pirates I'm probably least interested in him and Speed Jiru (yes, I am the visual kind of woman and they don't look appealing). Still with most stories focusing on Marco, Izo, Thatch and Haruta I feel all of the others come short, thus Blamenco was the first one Luffy noticed on his own. Fossa is a grumpy man who wants to get to know Luffy better, Kingdew is a bit cross with him cause he was the first to talk to Zoro and Nami. Also one of my first plot Bunnies for both stories was with Namur, you can expect that one soon.

Naturally the others are around too (they look a lot better) and I love Marco, so of course he has a bigger role in this story (my plot bunnies). Just don't expect me to write mother-hen Marco or have the whole name calling thing that many seem to favor (Mango, flaming turkey/chicken…) They're not children and while Luffy gets names wrong left and right he doesn't do it on purpose or to annoy others (he still IS annoying, but that's his character and not something he goes out of his way to do.)

Haruta: in my story is male, as stated by Oda, no woman from Whitebeard's crew was at the war. He's also not small and is older than Ace – if you want his size: he's as tall as Ace with his hat on (just look at the picture of the anime, where all WB pirates stand next to each other, Ace is actually the smallest followed by Haruta and Marco).

There is not much to go by character wise for the WB Pirates, so I just try to write them as I imagine how they could be like while also avoiding the usual thing.

 **Why I drag this week before Marineford out** : This whole story is based on various plot bunnies that kept haunting me, they were all just single scenes that I thought could be connected into a story. I then realized that I can't write fighting scenes (they bore me too), so there will be a lot of skipping then (and yes, my ideas reach up to the current arc, though of course things will be quite a bit different – even if most of the end results (except the newest arc, since no one knows how this will develop) will be the same. I imagine this story being something between 15-20 chapters long (so I can be wrong, I never thought I'd need 8 chapters just to get to this point…

Either way, most of my plot bunnies revolved around Luffy, his brothers, the WB pirates and how the story could change if Ace (and Whitebeard) hadn't died and most of it was about the days before and after the (now avoided) war. I definitely didn't imagine anything about the extremely long fights in Dressrosa change (as I said, they bore me, even in the original manga.)

 **Next chapter:** Continuation of where I stopped now, maybe a plot bunny with Namur and who knows what else (I usually try to do at least three different scenes)

(And yes, I already started writing the next chapter – but this seemed a good place to end it – chapter length itself was over 8200 words, without my beginning and end notes).

 **PLEASE TELL ME if you find any MISTAKES (no matter if content, grammar, spelling or whatever). Again, the only person to proofread this story is me!**

 **Thank you for any reviews, I truly enjoy reading your opinion!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Still wishing One Piece was mine, but it's not.

 **Warnings/Notes:**

 **1)** This chapter wasn't nearly as much of a bother as the last one, though with my personal goal of writing three scenes for each chapter I do take quite a while, Sorry. On a positive note two people really helped me a lot with this chapter:

 **Special thanks to: Blushing Green Apple for letting me throw plot ideas at her and Black' Victor Cachat who even beta-read this chapter for me.** It was nice getting feedback on a scene without having to wait for the whole chapter to be finished!

... ...

 **2)** Though someone else read it, there is no such thing as a mistake-free story. If you still **find a** **mistake (grammar, word repetition, spelling),** **let me know.**

... ...

 **3) Boys love warning.**

... ...

 **Thank you all for your amazing reviews! Between 40-50?! O_O Best encouragement ever** to continue writing, even if I'm busy as hell! And thanks for all the well wishes too. My nose seems to be back to normal for the moment ^_^

 **So thanks to: SoulMore** , **DeborahBee** , **GreenDrkness** (he always is!), **Yana5** , **Guest** , **Charlie** *grins*, **Lunapok** , **kid** , **Titania1796** , **StarliteOracle** , **vampireharry the 2** , **Dp11** (thus the warning), **xxXxx** , **125b** , **Guest** , **Dareagon** , **Guest** , **madworld27** , **AnyMoreBrightIdeasGenius** , **OfMoonsAndStars** , **EmeraldEyed** , **Guest**

 **Kurama-hime. Rocky-hime** : Luffy is well protected with the WBP ;) And yes, my nose seems to be back to normal again. Lets keep it that way This chapter was finished a (tiny bit) faster.

 **Lightningblade49** : Whitebeard sees Luffy as his son. Glad people got that vibe :) And yeah, they will keep in contact. Though he has to make his way on his own as well. Glad you liked Sunny's tour as well. It was not really a necessary scene for me, but a lot of people wanted to see everyone's reaction to her. I doubt Ace would want to share his past. As for training: the main factor was time, since he doesn't have more time than before he won't get stronger (though maybe defend a bit more efficiently).

 **Blushing Green Apple** : Let's both escape. Hope this one lives up to your expectations :)

 **yuriko. hueixin** : Why still attack Marineford will be explained later on. Nope, he'll train together with Ace and Sabo just outside WB's territory, still in the calm belt. Luffy's bounty will be official sometime soon as well ;) Ace's… that's something I have to think about yet. If Hancock attacked, she would be attacked in return, so nope, she doesn't. And nope, ask more if you have more questions :) As for nose block… hope it's gone meanwhile. They're nasty!

 **CrystalKnight** : Yes he has, but he isn't overprotective ;) And nope, the girl was Ivan in woman form. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

 **The Richmaster** : Thanks! Am glad you enjoyed that. I had some difficulties deciding on what everyone could be like since Oda never really said anything about the WBP yet. You really want me to spoil it for you?

I wonder if it's possible to send a picture all that way. The News Coo idea I don't think would work over such a long distance. Wouldn't make sense for Ace to not have sent at least some notes now and then over the three years. And Garp will have to come up one way or another, but certainly not that soon. There is something else waiting at Marineford if I get it right. Chopper's poster did get updated! By 50 Beri :P Anyway, hope you have fun with this chapter as well ^^

 **KHR-Yunalesca** : You can see his reaction now, hope it doesn't disappoint. By the time he leaves the WBP for his training I hope I have at least a short scene with all of the commanders in it. (One of my goals! It's difficult however … ;A; As for Whitebeard, he decided on Luffy being his son, so that's that. All of his children can get alone time with him if they wish. Namur *hearts*

 **MissSexyRain** : Whitebeard escaped!

 **Black' Victor Cachat** : *hearts* thanks so much for all your help with this one!

 **rose7anne101** : Whitebeard likes spoiling his children, I think he'd also be rather cuddly if his kids would let him. Maybe I should find a way for Luffy to hug him for once. Can you guess the pairing now? Oars… jeez, so many people to meet yet :) I will see if he can come into the story… Hope this chapter will amuse you just as much.

 **yuzukikuran476** : O.O thanks for reviewing all of the chapters! And don't worry. Ace will never die in my story! I agree, he shouldn't have died :( Hope you enjoy the newest chapter :)

 **lilcielo** : Glad you liked it so far. And yeah, he's their ninjaed-little-brother. Though he will have his romance. Hope you aren't against BL (thus the warning since chapter 1). If there was someone stupid enough to attack him in front of them all I think they would watch and let him take care of it unless there was a real danger. Luffy doesn't like others protecting him (doesn't mean though that the guy's ship will not get destroyed though… Bad luck follows evil guys…) Enjoy the new chapter :)

 **myanimeobsession** : Well that comment came from the manga really. He did say Ace was his most important person there, so I used that fact. I find it somewhat stupid that he spent 7 years with Ace and then we only see his crew (love em, but seriously?) Ace is a factor for names, but only if there aren't many to remember ;) And sorry, while I do love ASL as couples more they will not be involved. Maybe you can see it now? Despite romance, the brothers are most important to each other, before anyone else.

 **Iincho** : Thank you so much for reviewing all the chapters! I know I messed Kizaru ^^; WB won't be involved in the training much I think… I'd like more ASL interaction in the real story and Ace alive :( Please enjoy this chapter as well :)

 **BlueMoonChaos** : You said the right word… try XD Poor Marco :p Hope you liked everyone's reaction. This chapter held quite a bit of my believes when it comes to ASL dynamics. Either way… when are you going to update your story? You wrote such an interesting and difficult piece! (Seriously wonder how you're gonna turn the WBP into 'good guys' o.O)

 **pull harder** : Well his majesty isn't Luffy's captain or official family. He can however 'protect' Marco ;) Glad you still enjoyed it! Enjoy this one too please :)

 **NonchalantxFish** : Did you still find lots of mistakes in this chapter? It has been read by someone else before I posted, so hopefully no grammar mistakes (or at least not many). Chapter is rather long, so maybe some have been missed. Also do you mind BL?

 **Nala1220** : Glad you still reviewed. I love getting reviews ^o^ Thanks. And yeah… any pirate really should be able to cook at least a little bit :P

 **On with the chapter!**

…

* * *

 **Burning Birds and Surfing lessons**

* * *

….

"TORAOOO!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he barged into the submarine without invitation or permission in the middle of the night. He'd taken of his cardigan in hopes of damping the fire. Whitebeard had told him not to throw his bird into the ocean after all. He didn't know why, but since the old man had sounded serious he did the next best thing and searched for Torao, just that it took so long and the fire had spread to the bird's neck.

"TORAO! Where are you?!" He opened several doors on the first floor, startling a few half asleep crew members, in his desperate search. As he went into yet another room he was suddenly encircled by some blue light and found himself dropped onto the floor in a completely different room.

That was so cool! He had teleported somehow and he didn't know how! He so had to do it again. Maybe it was something that only worked in the submarine? Luffy shook his head in an attempt to stay focused. There were more pressing matters to be taken care of first, his newest crewmember had to be taken care of. Looking down he panicked even more, again the fire had gotten stronger.

"TOR-"

"What in all hells name are you doing here at a quarter to four in the morning?" A very grouchy and low voice came from behind. "I have half the mind to dump you under my submarine, where your brothers won't find you in time, so speak quickly!"

"Torao!" Luffy's relieve was palpable and the death threat went completely ignored. "You have to help me! My crow, it saved me, but now it's burning! Please, save it!"

The teary eyed face gave Law a headache, the weird explanation didn't help either, nor did the early hour of the day or his lack of sleep. "Throw it into the water and get it out."

"I would, but giant-ossan said not to." Just why had Law saved this idiot again?

"I'm not a veterinarian." Law hissed angrily.

"Of course not, you're not old! But help my bird now before it's cooked!"

Law twitched. "I'm _not_ a doctor for animals!"

Naturally the one time he went out of his way to save someone who wasn't a member of his crew, it'd come back to bite him in his ass. At an ungodly hour in the morning. See if he'd ever save someone again!

"But you have Bepo!" Luffy shoved the poorly wrapped and maltreated bird into his face just as Law was about to make good on his threat and had built a room again.

"That was you!" Luffy sucked in a breath at the sight of the blue light. Law ignored him in favor of watching the burning bundle, his attempt at dismembering the other halted for the time being as his half asleep brain caught up with the picture his eyes took in. There, in his rivals arms, laid the rather big form of Marco the Phoenix. Somehow the young D. had managed to take down one of the most notorious pirates in recent history. The bird seemed completely out of it. It was most likely close to being unconsciousness. The only explanation Law could come up with for this was that the older pirate had looked dead on his feet even before Law had left in favor of getting some rest himself.

Either way, fact was that Marco the Phoenix had been downed by Straw Hat, who was still staring at him with wide teary eyes. Law couldn't help it, his shoulder's started to shake more and more as his stomach clenched and he slowly seemed to lose control of his whole upper body and facial expression. His mouth formed a grin and opened on its own accord as he kept looking and breathing suddenly became a lot more difficult.

When a tired rasping sound from the bird followed it was too much. He left his own room on shaky legs and had to lean against the door outside, coughing a few times, until he had his body under control again, though his gleeful smirk was still in place.

"My bird is about to die, you ass!" snarled Luffy as he came back in. "What the hell were you doing?"

"It won't die." Law said easily.

"It's burning!" Luffy stressed. "Help it before it's roasted and I have to eat it!"

Again Law coughed surprised at the image this reply sent. If he wasn't feeling so gleeful, he'd feel sorry for the first division commander.

"Didn't you realize that the fire is neither burning your clothes nor hurting you?" Law coughed at long last.

"You're right!" Luffy blinked. He hugged the bird even tighter than before. "My crow is protecting me even now!"

"He's a phoenix, not a crow." Law informed him and suddenly Luffy's eyes lit up with understanding and admiration.

"So it's normal that he burns and they're immortal, right? I've never seen a phoenix before!"

"Big surprise with how common they are." Law pinched the bridge of his nose when Luffy yelled in surprise if they were. "They always burn a tiny bit, but the more they are hurt, the brighter and stronger their fire gets."

"But it's gotten worse since I carried him here." Luffy fretted.

"Have you seen the way you carry him?" Law deadpanned.

Once again his comment went ignored. "You're still a doctor, right? So if you help him, he'll heal faster, won't he?"

"Not really. His fire takes care of him."

"Even Chopper needs medicine." Luffy insisted and Law hesitated. It could be interesting to see the reaction everyone's reactions the next day.

"Actually I might be able to help." He said slowly. "You'll have to tell me how this happened however. Also, why did you call it a crow?"

"He sounded like one. I saw him a few days ago already and wanted to catch him then, but Ace got in the way at that time." Luffy laid the phoenix down on the bed when Law came with bandages and handed him back his cardigan.

"What you heard was not the phoenix, but a real crow. There are quite a few around here." Law rolled his eyes at the simplemindedness.

"I thought it was a blue crow. He looked even more beautiful tonight, all bright and shiny. So I wanted to catch him to have him join my crew, or maybe eat him, but I can't do that anymore. He saved me! Well I tried catching him, but he had moved so I missed and grabbed his neck. We would have landed in the ocean, but he changed our course and flew into the mast instead. And then he even turned us around, so I landed on top of him and went up in flames." Luffy carefully patted the bird's burning head.

Law nodded, of course Marco would protect Fire Fist's idiotic little brother. Whitebeard had also seemed fond of the idiot. He'd be angry if something would happen to the younger D.

"I'll wrap the bird up, then I'll take a look at your state, you're probably in worse shape than the bird."

"I'm fine, he helped me. How come you know it's a he? Did you see his family jewels? He's still burning, so I didn't think anything could be seen. Can he poop?" Luffy asked curiously.

Law coughed and snorted. "I just know. Ask him, if you really want to know."

Luffy nodded and Law was absolutely certain that Luffy would indeed ask the phoenix as soon as possible. He shook his head and put a sleeping pill into the bird's mouth. The animal was still too dazed or maybe even unconscious to reject it, and while the bandages were totally unnecessary and just for show (it could be fun, if Marco would show up all bandaged the next morning), the pill would get him some much needed rest as well as help him feel more refreshed, even with only a few hours of sleep.

A few minutes later he sent Straw Hat on his way with the phoenix held securely in his arms again. Marco had indeed managed to prevent any possible injuries the teen could have sustained. Luck was on the fool's side.

… …

With a huge yawn Luffy made it back to the big ship. Despite being tired all of a sudden, he wanted to show the giant mustache man his bird still. He had seemed worried as well, so it might make him happy. It was a bit difficult since he now had both of his arms full and didn't dare to move them. The surgeon had insisted he hold his phoenix in a certain way and not to move as it would make Law feel sorry. He had agreed then, but now he just wanted to lie down and sleep and show the male bird to Ace and Sabo.

He grinned as he came to a halt in front of Whitebeard again, holding out the extremely well bandaged bird, so the old man could see him. "Look, he's better already!"

"I see… but why is he bandaged? He doesn't need them." Whitebeard wasn't too happy at the sight. Depending on the answer he might have to go pay a visit to the doctor. He wouldn't tolerate disrespect in this case. The surgeon had a bit of a nasty streak in him and he didn't appreciate someone making fun of his first division commander when he had in fact saved his youngest.

Luffy's brows furrowed. "Why are you all so mean just because he's a bird? Torao said the same, but he will heal faster this way."

Whitebeard relaxed slightly. So the reason was his stubborn brat and not the other trying to make fun of Marco. "He truly doesn't need them."

"But he looked like he was hurting!" Luffy argued and the older captain had to agree, that Marco certainly had been hurt, but nothing that some fire wouldn't take care of. The phoenix had not gotten hurt enough to warrant bandages. He hardly ever needed them, especially not when it came to injuries sustained outside of a battle.

"Why is he so still now?" Whitebeard wondered. Marco had been dizzy from the impact into the mast, but he should still be better now, if the surgeon had indeed taken a look at him. Also why hadn't he transformed back?

Luffy poked the bird's beak and it opened slightly. "That's how he did it. He gave him something to make him fresh again, cause apparently he was really tired too. He didn't give me any though, said he'd rather do the opposite, which would be awful. I sleep so much already."

The surgeon hadn't just gone along with what the brat insisted on after all. The old captain didn't oppose this course of action. Marco certainly could do with some rest, enforced or not. "In that case you should make sure he gets plenty of rest."

"Of course I will, we're going to bed now, before Sabo or Ace notice I was gone for so long." Luffy smiled brightly, hopping towards the stairs, which lead to the division commander's room.

"Goodnight brat, don't squeeze him." Whitebeard called.

Luffy turned and smiled brightly. "Shishishi. I'm not gonna squeeze my future crewmember!"

Whitebeard's eyes widened "Stop!" But the door fell shut behind the teen and the older man sighed. He briefly considered following the brat, but maybe it was better this way. He didn't feel like seeing his son's face fall when he realized that the bird was not in fact a bird but his first division commander. He knew even someone as happy as his brat would be disappointed then (though he'd most likely get over it given an hour or two and some meat).

Instead he turned to his barely hidden children who were supposed to be on watch duty, but had had the time of their lives watching the continuation of what had started about an hour ago. "Don't tease Marco about this."

… …

"What the f**k is going on here?!" And loud laughter woke Luffy up around breakfast time on the next day. He beamed at his two brothers, one hanging half off the bed, the other looking up at the ceiling with a pained expression on his face.

As he tried to rub his eyes he remembered he had his hands tangled in front of him, so his bird wouldn't get flattened by anyone and had it nicely warm during the night (he was a fire bird, so he liked heat, right?). He freed his bird and was rewarded by a tired cawing-noise.

"See, he's healed now. He's burning less, though still a bit." He held the bird up so Sabo and Ace could see him. Ace howled and fell of the bed completely while Sabo coughed and told him he was hurting his phoenix, then showed him how to hold the overheated bird properly, explaining to him that fire or not, fresh air was a must.

"Care to explain what happened from yesterday to today and why he is here now? He has his own room." Sabo asked, Ace was wheezing on the ground now, still chuckling now and then.

"I don't know where his nest would be. He was flying and I caught him, or actually he caught me." Responded Luffy.

Ace shot up in alarm and glanced over Luffy's body. There were fresh bandages. To ask or not to ask? Marco was involved so Luffy had definitely done something stupid again. He was well, so it might be better … "Why is he now bandaged? And how did you get fresh ones as well?"

"It's a phoenix", their brother patted its wrapped head, "because he was burning, I brought him to Torao so he could help it before I could do nothing else with him than eat him. But it's normal for a phoenix right? They're immortal, but bandages still help. And Torao also redid mine then."

Good thing the other Supernova was so patient, otherwise they might have had to search for Luffy somewhere in the ocean Sabo thought as Ace once again cackled loudly. Seriously, he was having too much fun at his crewmembers expense.

The phoenix made a cawing noise and Luffy beamed. "Great you're waking up! I gotta go see Torao."

"Before breakfast?" Ace asked shocked.

Luffy grimaced, halfway through the door already. "Ahh… Save me meat… a lot of meat! My future crewmember is more important!"

This time it was Ace who was dumbfounded and Sabo who ended up laughing. "Future… crewmember?"

"We better save him a lot of meat! He's not going to like finding out it's Marco."

… …

Luffy hurried up the stairs and onto the deck, almost running into some of Ace's crewmates. He waved at them and shouted his apology. He didn't notice the shocked looks of those he passed, or the eyes like saucers that followed his every move.

"Morning!" He yelled to Whitebeard who was already sitting in his chair again. "Did you sleep outside?"

"… What… are you carrying around, Straw Hat?" Rakuyo wondered if he was seeing right. He could hear Curiel gasp while Kingdew coughed on his food and Atmos guffawed, so he believed his eyes hadn't deceived him yet.

"Morning brat. No I didn't." Whitebeard replied as his youngest held out the phoenix to Rakuyo, so he could see him better. Obviously their father was already informed about (and resigned to) poor Marco's fate.

"A phoenix." Luffy cheerfully answered. "He's still burning now, so maybe Torao was right that he wouldn't need bandages. We're going to see him now."

"Why did he need bandages in first place?" Curiel asked, ignoring all the snickering from behind. At one glance from Rakuyo most turned around, trying to hide their laughter. The shaking bodies all around made this useless.

"Cause he was hurt of course." Luffy said distractedly, following the sandwich in the commander's hands with his eyes. Said commander noticed, scowled and quickly finished of his breakfast before the brat would once again steal his breakfast. It had happened way too often these past few days.

"Stingy!" he complained then eyed Kingdew's plate who followed Curiel's example posthaste.

"Get your own. What did you do? He's still out of it." He pointed to the manhandled phoenix. Whatever the brat had done must have been quite something for Marco to not escape. Also why was he still in his phoenix form?

Luffy scowled deeply now, his stomach growling loudly, so Blamenco held out his own breakfast, feeling sorry for the bothersome kid, whose expression did a hundred-eighty degree turn just before it was shoveled down. "That's why we were going to Torao before you guys started to talk and hog all the food, except for Blamenco, thanks."

"Maybe a bit of water might help him?" Rakuyo suggested, holding out a bowl of water. Luffy set the bird down and accepted it with a big smile.

"Thanks. Old giant mustache said to not extinguish his fire." Before Rakuyo could snatch the bowl back the young captain had doused the bird with its content.

Whitebeard winced as the water immediately affected the devil fruit user and the bird became sluggish until most of the water had gathered in a puddle around it and Luffy had picked the soak bird up again. It still had the wanted effect of waking the bird up, who wheezed then looked around disoriented.

With an angry caw the bird flapped his wings, spraying water everywhere and hitting the brat.

"Uwah!" Luffy almost fell and lost his hold on the phoenix. "Shhh… don't worry, you're alright. I got you healed just fine."

"Whaaaat?!" The Whitebeard Pirates who weren't rolling on the floor shouted in unison completely shocked.

The phoenix however didn't calm down instead flapped even more agitatedly, hitting the brat's face and finally breaking free. It fluttered to the ground, unable to stay in the air for long with the bandages and the water interfering with his ability, where he transformed back into his human form at long last.

"WHAT THE F**K STRAW HAT?!" The man roared, so enraged that he even forgot to add his customary 'yoi' at the end. It was at this point that most of those rolling on the floor decided it might be a good idea to weather the storm somewhere from a safe distance. Marco as good as never shouted!

The aforementioned captain stood stiff as a poker, his jaw dropped to the floor, eyes bulging. Only when the enraged commander had fully transformed back did he scream. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN EEEH?! YOU LITTLE SHIT CA-"

" _YOU'RE_ MY PHOENIX?" screeched Luffy.

"I'M NOT YOUR PHOENIX!" Marco's voice could probably be heard even at the other end of the island right now. "Do you have ANY idea AT ALL how dangerous your stunt was? And you USED HAKI to boot! Do you even have a shred of self-preservation, yoi?!"

"You're not a phoenix?!" Apparently the brat was a master at selective hearing.

"Of course I am!" shouted Marco, red from anger.

"So you were my phoenix! I wanted you to join my crew! You tricked me!" Luffy accused, now also angry.

"Oi oi, I never tricked you! I'm a Zoan!" Marco defended then realized just what he was doing and shook his head. Straw Hat didn't have any right to be angry. "And I was never _your_ phoenix!"

This was apparently the wrong thing to say for Luffy all of a sudden looked utterly crestfallen, making Marco feel… guilty? "I mean… it wasn't even a secret, yoi…" Marco trailed of, unsure of how to react now that the usually very animated face all of a sudden sported a look that was extremely out of place on it.

He helplessly turned towards the others who just shrugged. Blamenco frowned and gestured towards the small captain, a clear sign to do _something_ about this.

"I'm… sorry… yoi." He tried, feeling at a complete loss, now that his anger had left him again.

"You should be!" Luffy glared "You should have told me last time I saw you, when Ace stopped me from catching you!"

"I don't even know what you're talking about! And most people know about my ability! It's even mentioned on my wanted poster, yoi!" Marco had a hard time keeping up with Luffy's mood changes, he didn't dare calling them swings. One glance at his father told him that this was exactly why the old man hadn't interfered yesterday. He looked amused, if a bit sympathetic.

"Well _I_ didn't" Luffy exclaimed and Marco sighed, it felt like arguing with a brick wall.

"And you looked really beautiful already during the day. So I kept looking and last night you looked even better and so cool all sparkly and shining!" Luffy gushed as Marco coughed and blushed. Then his pout returned full force.

"You're so mean." Luffy informed him.

"This is _my_ fault, yoi?!" Marco asked indignantly.

"Of course it is!" Luffy yelled.

"You're the one who tried to catch me with haki!" Marco shot back, at long last remembering why he was angry.

"What are you talking about? All I wanted to do was make you a part of my crew! And you flew into the mast!" Luffy snapped.

"You mean you don't even know what you were doing, yoi?" Marco's eyes widened. "You… You're a menace!"

"Well whatever I was doing, I wouldn't have had to do it if you hadn't changed directions!"

"THEN WE BOTH WOULD HAVE FALLEN INTO THE W- … no wait… enough… you're giving me a headache."

Luffy blinked then nodded. "Right. I was about to take you to Torao anyway. You're still not healthy." He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and latched onto the submarine's railing.

"WHAAA-?"

Deafening silence followed the forceful departure of their first division commander who had once again been manhandled, this time in human form, and pulled along through the air towards the submarine.

"Is this really alright with you?" Sabo asked the old captain, when no one else seemed to be able to move. Both he and Ace had come up just in time to watch Marco transform back.

"I didn't see you two interfering either. Are you telling me my sons can't handle my youngest brat?"

"Huh? Your youngest?!" Ace whipped around, grin falling from his face. "I don't think he will wear your-"

"No…" Whitebeard interrupted. "Your brother, Luffy, without a doubt is my youngest at the moment. He probably won't bear my mark, doesn't mean that he isn't my son. Almost all of my children already think of him as a brother anyway."

"He's _our_ brother!" Sabo hissed.

"Gurarara. We're not stealing him. Instead of this, with two of your brothers my sons, why don't you become one of mine as well?"

"You're just deciding things on your own without giving us a choice?!" Sabo yelled.

"I admit, I can be a bit selfish and stubborn. Like father like son, isn't that how the saying goes? My youngest is just as stubborn after all." chuckled Whitebeard.

"A bit… right…" Ace cleared his throat. "You actually have a choice, but in this case Oyaji's mind is made up, no matter if you resist or not."

"That's the same thing!" Sabo insisted and sighed. "Sorry, I'm a revolutionist. I don't want a father."

"Ace didn't want one either." Whitebeard told him. "At the beginning he wanted to take my head. Quite the opposite of my youngest really, though he did say he wants to fight me. I will have to ask him about that. I am an old man after all, I'd rather not fight my son."

"Right." Sabo's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Your reasons for not wanting to fight our brother aside, aren't you worried about your kidnapped older son as well?"

"Gurarara, not at all. Marco can take care of himself. Keeping up with the brat might be a good experience. It certainly is a novel one."

"I still think you're going too easy on Straw Hat." Kingdew commented.

"And yet not a single one of you helped Marco either. None of you got angry, despite the brat's insults."

"He wasn't insulting." Blamenco defended Luffy.

"Indeed, he wasn't." Whitebeard nodded. "Had anyone else said or done something similar all here would have been up in arms thinking Marco would have been insulted, yet not a single one went to stop it. All of us let Marco deal with this on his own, most even siding with the brat or _secretly_ laughing about it, because all of us knew that for all that the brat lacks a bit of common sense, he means no harm or insult to any of us. Quite the opposite, he'd help if we so much as asked, not only because Ace is part of our crew, but also because he likes us. And we like him in turn."

"Not to mention that it was very interesting seeing the brat set the pace, and Marco unable to do much but follow and react." Blenheim added.

Atmos shook his head. "Marco apologizing when he was actually the victim…"

Curiel laughed "So when it comes to the brat it seems like everyone is left to their own devices."

"Interesting rule." Kingdew could live with that.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the count of Whitebeard Pirates versus Straw Hat." Blenheim grinned. "So far its 2:0, as for the official siblings… well they have yet to score. The count against them is quite high."

"Hey!" Sabo shouted.

"We do resist often enough!" Ace defended.

"Only when his health is concerned, thus that doesn't count." Blenheim waved him off. "He's reckless so someone has to take care of him, he won't do it on his own. It's easy to resist in such a case."

Meanwhile Luffy had successfully dragged a rather resistant Marco into the submarine, once again asking loudly for the other captain to appear.

"Would you finally let go, yoi?!" The Phoenix growled furiously. If the other wasn't still wrapped in bandages he would have kicked him off both ships to teach him a lesson, whether or not it would stuck was another question he'd rather leave unanswered. "If I need a doc I'll see one on _our_ ship!"

"But you don't have any!"

"They returned yesterday! You were even introduced to them. Remember all the women, yoi?" Marco freed himself of the other's grip.

"Oh right… but we're already here now, so let's go see Law. He helped you yesterday!" Luffy smiled.

"You mean he wanted to make fun of me?" asked Marco interested now. "I didn't need any help and unlike you he knew that!"

"Oh he said something like that too, but don't bandages still help? You healed faster, didn't you? And he did help you stay asleep."

"If you keep talking, I might really throw you off the boat and let you drown." Marco warned. "Does that mean he helped me cause you insisted?"

"Torao wasn't very happy about that either. I think I woke him and he was moody, but then he still smiled at the end." He wondered if he was going insane, but Marco could actually picture quite well what must have happened after the brat had taken him out with just those few words.

Their search ended when Penguin came and brought them to the doctor, whose shit eating smirk made Marco believe in the accuracy of his guesses. He'd more than once witnessed the other's rather dark humor after all.

"Pleasure to see you again." Law invited them to sit down.

"Not by choice I can guarantee that, yoi." Marco responded, though he sat down.

"He has a headache," Luffy told Law at once "so I brought him here. Is it cause of the sleeping thing you gave him yesterday?"

Law's eyebrows were raised as he took a good look at the first division commander. He did seem a lot more rested than during the last few days, so the sleeping pill and maybe even a bit of Luffy's care must have helped. He'd anticipated the two to be back here a lot earlier actually. As expected he'd been woken up by shouts again, even though this time they came from a rather nice distance and were fun to hear.

"I wonder. You look healthy." Law stated.

"I am. The brat was giving me a headache." Marco muttered.

"So you do have a headache. Can we have some medicine for it? Also does he need fresh bandages?" Luffy already was gesturing towards the drawer where Law had taken out his bandages yesterday.

"It's a figure of speech. He has no headache." Law smirked. He was in a rather good mood and who wouldn't be with such a wake-up call.

"And bandages?" Luffy already had taken one from the desk behind Law.

"… He didn't need them yesterday, he doesn't today. He's a phoenix after all." Law reminded and was rewarded by Luffy's face showing rapidly changing emotions until it settled on sadness. Apparently the younger captain had quite a few thoughts on the phoenix.

"Right… phoenixes don't die…" Luffy said solemnly and suddenly patted Marco's head, just like he had done when he was still a bird.

"… What are you doing?" Marco was unsure of whether he wanted to know what went through his head or not.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? What are you doing now? Aren't you mad at me for being the phoenix?" Marco wondered, pushing the hand away.

"I was… but you're a phoenix. That means you are immortal, you can't die. If you can't die you shouldn't be on our crew after all, no matter how cool you look. It's really sad." Luffy replied.

"And why is that?" Law inquired, once again intrigued by whatever the young captain had come up with.

"Well isn't your crew your family, or your best friends? Mine is at least, I love all of them. But if Marco is a phoenix then he can't die. All of us will die one day, so then he'd be all alone. In that case it's better to not be part of my family. At least your crew is bigger." This time Marco didn't stop Luffy from patting him. Both he and Law were rather busy staring at Straw Hat.

"You don't want immortality?" "Immortality is something bad?" Law and Marco asked at the same time.

"There's nothing good about living forever. If I couldn't die, then no adventure would be interesting." Luffy's nose wrinkled as he confirmed both others' believes about him being slightly suicidal, even if he didn't exactly go out of his way to find death.

"Also," continued Luffy, "everyone else still dies, and I'd miss them way too much. And even if they didn't, it'd still be boring after a while. When I was a child and Sabo died I always thought I'd live long and have many adventures cause he was watching and wanted me to live. And if he wasn't watching then I would be able to tell him everything when we'd meet again. Not seeing Sabo again is a lot worse than dying."

"So… if someone offered you immortality…" Law broke off, thinking of the man he'd sworn to defeat.

"No way!" Luffy declined at once. "I live my life without regrets and then I will die and hopefully see all my friends and Ace and Sabo again. Ah… that still doesn't mean they're allowed to die before me. No one could tell me whether or not what Makino told me was true and I'd still miss them like hell if they died. Stupid Ace let his card burn!"

Marco appeared lost in thoughts for he almost fell from his chair when Luffy hugged him. "Maybe we'll find someone else who won't die for you."

"I… I will still die." Marco said slowly, never having thought that this sentence could have a positive meaning to it.

"That's good for you then." Luffy smiled relieved.

Both of the other men turned towards him then, taken aback, and not in a bad way. Straw Hat was serious about dying being a good thing, at least if death didn't come too early and even if it did he'd prefer it to eternity. Just how many other pirates could say this?

No one Marco met had ever thought about this before, even when it was common believe that "the Phoenix" was immortal. After all, no matter the damage he received during a battle, he always came out without a scratch and his looks hadn't changed over the years.

Then this boy appears, who seemed vibrate with life, set on living to the fullest and looking for fun everywhere, and yet he talked about death as if it was something good. What was more, seen from his point of view it really was.

Law eyed him contemplative, not having considered that there might be anyone who'd think it inconvenient, much less a bad thing, to be immortal. Straw Hat kept on surprising him, in both a good and a bad way, making him remember things that right now he didn't want to think about. With his fruit's ability he'd never thought he'd ever meet a person who wouldn't be interested in that, if they knew. He suddenly could believe Nico Robin would stay with this crew, for better or worse.

"You certainly know how to surprise people." Marco stated slowly, noticing how Luffy was getting impatient with their inaction, swaying left and right on his chair.

He'd watched the young captain from the moment he'd appeared on their ship, and even now he was able to pull the rug from under his feet, leaving him feeling unbalanced. And for once in his life he didn't mind too much, even if he would bring even more chaos to them in the future. He could understand their second division commander all the more now. Ace's little brother was precious, no matter the chaos and wreckage he brought along. He was a different captain from Whitebeard, but their morals were similar.

"I'm hungry." Luffy's stomach growled loudly, breaking the atmosphere that had kept them silent.

"Good, get out of my ship and don't come back anytime soon." Law muttered. "Oh and… you're allowed to take a bath now. Make use of it, you need it."

"I'll make sure he does, yoi." Marco agreed.

"FOOD!" Luffy whined then shouted in excitement when Law built a circle and dropped all of them of at the beach.

… …

The next day the coating engineers were still hard at work, getting all the ships coated. There were quite a few working on the Moby Dick right now and even then it still would take more than the three days Rayleigh needed for the Sunny. They'd need about a week to get all the ships, including the Heart Pirates' submarine, coated. Again the Whitebeard Pirates were rather grateful to the surgeon. No one had thought that the supernova would still have unfinished business in Paradise and would want to go back. The captain really had gone out of his way to help his rival.

Of course there was Luffy, who didn't seem to understand all the trouble Law had gone through for him or why the submarine needed to be coated in first place (he also thanked the supernova however, even if only for staying so long).

Vista had taken it upon himself to explain things to Luffy. Needless to say the ones listening in were impressed by how many ways one could use to communicate the simple fact that the water pressure was too big and would destroy even a submarine. Unfortunately his efforts were in vain and Luffy still asked the very same question ('But why does a submarine need to get coated? It always is under water!') afterwards.

By the time Ace found his little brother and decided to pitch in the commander was already pulling on both sides of his mustache, clearly at the end of his wits.

"You're doing it wrong." Ace commented. "See Luffy, if they don't get it coated it gets mysteriously crushed."

"So it's a mystery!" Straw Hat seemed to be perfectly fine with this explanation.

"Rayleigh! Please coat Torao's submarine too!" He ran off to find his soon-to-be teacher.

A while later Luffy was lying on the deck, he was totally bored. Normally he wouldn't mind sitting at the tip of the Moby Dick, but that was when the ship was moving, not when they were anchored at an island. Ace was busy with his division now and helping his crew restock and Sabo had been reading but had fallen asleep when he was chatting with Rayleigh. For a moment he had wanted to wake his brother up, but then decided against it. He couldn't remember if he had ever seen Sabo taking a nap and he did look so peaceful right now, so he had asked Rayleigh if he could keep an eye on his brother for him. The elder man was helping on getting the Moby coated and said he'd need a few hours on the deck still anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem. He would start with the Sunny later.

In his search for finding something to do he had looked for Blamenco, who had disappeared somewhere with his division, his visit to Torao had been cut short since they were all outside as they were coating their sub too and he wasn't allowed to enter. Then Bepo had vanished as well, which was mean, he might have taken a nap with the bear. The huge grey bearded guy and the pretty one were bringing lots of boxes and barrels on board, but turned him away when he had offered to help for the same reason Ace hadn't let him come. Torao thought he shouldn't carry heavy stuff yet.

The older smoking one had glared at him and asked him if he remembered his name now, to which he had answered how he should know if the man himself didn't, seriously. And then he had started yelling as if it was his fault! So all in all he wasn't very lucky to find anything to do.

Luffy already considered waking Sabo after all so they could go on an adventure or something when he suddenly saw some guys in the water. Now of course he hated water and wouldn't do something as stupid as swim (even if Marco had made good on his promise and thrown him into the Moby's rather large bathtub, he could be worse than Nami!), but he could have some other fun.

"Ah… but Ace and Sabo would get mad... I could ask Ace, but he can't swim anymore either… Wake up Sabo after all"

"What are you mumbling about, Straw Hat?" Speed Jiru appeared behind him.

"I need someone who can swim! Ace can't swim anymore." responded Luffy.

"Well fishmen are the best, Sabo can swim, most of us here can swim, I can swim." Jiru counted off.

"A fishman!" Luffy exclaimed. "Thanks! JINBEEEEEIIIII!"

It didn't take long for the excited teen to land in front of the older captain, where he usually could find Jinbei.

"Jinbei! Ossan, have you seen Jinbei?" He asked with a huge smile on his face.

"What do you need him for?" The old man questioned curiously what his youngest had come up with now.

"Oh, the knight said fishmen are the best swimmers and Ace and Sabo would be mad if I went alone. Also Sabo is sleeping so he can't come."

"You plan to go on swimming?" Whitebeard coughed. Even for his youngest this seemed a bit extreme.

He sighed in relieve when the lad made a face "Of course not. I hate water! So have you seen Jinbei?"

"I'm sorry, he left this morning. He said he'll meet you in a few days." Whitebeard relayed Jinbei's message.

"Eh… but I want a fishman." Luffy insisted.

"Well if you want just someone who can swim you can ask almost all of my sons, well Jozu here can't either. He's also a Devil Fruit user. All the others around can swim pretty well. We also have Namur who is a fishman. He should be on the second ship from here." He pointed to their other ship that was also getting coated.

"I totally forgot you had a fishman on your crew! Great! Thanks ossan!" Luffy in his usual fashion stretched his arm towards the mast of the next ship and hopped over. Whitebeard had long since stopped worrying about his son landing somewhere he shouldn't. He wasn't bad at it, his first division commander must have been a special occasion. Instead of that, he now worried what the kid had thought about. Should he already inform Ace or should he try to make sure neither Ace nor Sabo would discover… it surly would cause undue worry for both older brothers.

His youngest wasn't helping his whole healing process at all. Whenever either of the two were busy or lost sight of him (which actually almost never happened with how well both of them worked together), the young one started something reckless again. He'd not go swimming so it must be something else quite reckless. If it was fishing Straw Hat had deemed him the man to watch out for him and keep him company during that, now that he'd done it once.

Whitebeard didn't mind indulging his affectionate youngest at all since the things his youngest wanted (fun, people to surround him, attention, love) were all things that Whitebeard liked to give. The only thing he really demanded was food, but between the Kuja Pirates and them the three black holes on their ship were well fed, even if they did have to keep close watch on their provisions.

… …

"NERUUU!" Luffy yelled as he landed on the ship he was directed to.

"Whom are you looking for?" One of Whitebeard's many sons asked.

"Neru… the fishman. The old giant man said he was here." Luffy grinned and the other nodded.

"His name's Namur." Everyone meanwhile knew Ace's younger brother and how bad he was with names. That's why he didn't even try to introduce himself. "If you want his help with something remember his name."

Luffy nodded. "He's here?"

"Over there, he just got back…" The pirate trailed of remembering the second fact everyone knew. Never mention any form of food or mealtime to the kid (unless he had already used his devil fruit ability to change into his ball-form and was satiated for a little while), otherwise he would demand a wagonload of things to eat.

Luffy's eyes landed on the commander, who currently didn't seem to be busy and just watched the proceedings of the people at the beach. Luffy thanked the guy who had already gone back to his book. Then he jumped to Namur, landing on his back with some difficulties due to his fin and startling the commander pretty badly.

"Namur, you're a fishman!" Luffy stated the obvious.

"Damn brat!" The gruff looking fishman cussed. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Huh? No. I was looking for you!" Luffy clutched Namur's arm as the other tried to shake him off.

"And why were you looking for me?" Namur very reluctantly asked with a feeling of unease. He already prepared to decline whatever request the brat had. He would not help him learn how to pick locks, neither would he tell him who had the key to the storage room on the Moby Dick, or any of their other ships (all of them had been sealed off against unwanted intruders). The brat had indeed asked all of the commanders and anyone else Ace had introduced to him.

"Cause you're a fishman. And the giant ossan said you'd be here."

"Oyaji sent you?" Somehow this wasn't reassuring. If Oyaji had sent him he couldn't deny the brat easily.

"I wanted to ask Jinbei, but he left for now and you're also a fishman and can swim." Luffy replied.

"Most pirates can." Namur said drily.

"But you're a fishman!" Luffy beamed.

"… And what do you need me for?" The fishman had given up on shaking Luffy off for the moment.

"Let's go surfing!" Luffy suggested excitedly.

Surfing. Namur relaxed slightly. The brat hadn't asked him anything too bad. He didn't demand food, neither did he ask to be taught how to pick locks again. This should be… "Wait! Aren't you a Devil Fruit user?!"

"Yep. I'm a rubber man!" Luffy pulled at his cheek.

"And you want to go surfing." Namur repeated.

"Let's go!" Luffy nodded eagerly.

"You can't swim." Namur pointed out.

"That's why I had to find you. You can pull me out when I fall into the water." Namur at once noted the use of "when" and not "if".

"And what about your injuries? Trafalgar Law said no strenuous activities and no water." The fishman reasoned.

"Torao said I could now." Luffy assured. "Marco already threw me into the big pool when I didn't want to!" Luffy remembered grumpily.

"No wonder with how the poor guy suffered." Namur deadpanned.

Pretty much everyone knew what had happened before. Unlike most Namur truly felt sorry for his fellow commander, though he had come back in a much better mood from the submarine than anyone could have expected. Still, all things considered the Phoenix had gone easy on the kid.

Luffy chose to ignore that statement in favor of getting back on track. "You're a fishman and they swim best, so let's go surf!"

"No." Namur denied his request as he cursed the surgeon for allowing it. He already could see Ace's reaction.

"What? So mean! You're not even doing anything special!" Luffy complained loudly.

"I just had my… break. I'm busy with my division." Namur lied through his teeth. Anything to stop the brat from begging or being an annoying little shit. Ace so would blame him if something happened.

And now he was whining, but at least didn't try to stop him from his 'duties'. They were getting the ships ready to help the kid after all.

"Fine… What's the name of that guy over there?" Luffy pointed to the one who had helped him find Namur, after a few more minutes of complaining.

"That's Dan." The fishman automatically answered.

"I'll just ask him then. Zoro and the others pulled me out dozens of times before, even though none of them is a fishman." Luffy relented remembering that even without a fishman he had always been fine. It was a pity, he had really wanted to see a fishman swim. They were so cool!

Namur felt a chill run down his spine. Oyaji had told the brat where to find him and even though he doubted their father knew about the plans of the brat, he trusted Namur to keep him save. And if something out of the ordinary would happen and Namur had known about it, he would be angry. Not to mention all the problems Ace would cause then. And then there was that blond brother…

"Instead of that, why don't you join me and get something to eat?" Namur suggested.

"FOOD! … But Hancock said to come to them later and I want to surf now. It looked so fun." Luffy ended up declining the one thing that normally always worked according to pretty much everyone who had to deal with the brat.

Swearing up a storm Namur resigned himself to his fate of watching over the stubborn idiotic brat. "I'll join you for a while then."

"THANKS!" Luffy hugged him tightly. "Awesome! I always wanted to go swim with a fishman!"

"No… you wanted to surf… I will swim and make sure you don't drown just in case." Corrected Namur.

"I can't really surf. My record is around two minutes. Maybe I can get it to three now." Luffy crushed all his hopes, making the suddenly tired commander wonder if it was too late to plead a bad case of migraine.

… …

In the end the commander of the eight division had to stay with the brat for the better part of one hour. He only spent twenty minutes of it in the water. Luffy ended up falling into the ocean four times: twice right after Namur helped him stand on the board, one more time after breaking his record, when he turned around to grin at Namur. They took a little break afterwards. And the last time after Namur had given him some tips on how to stand on the board without falling off right away. He lasted for over five minutes. He stopped moving after he fell into the water that last time, much to the panicking fishman's horror.

Later on he found out from an extremely pissed of surgeon that Luffy had once again been lucky and just fallen asleep due to the water sapping all of his strength, he was not fit to do exercises yet after all. For all the trouble the brat had caused the fishman he could openly admit to enjoying the sight of the surgeon giving him a dressing-down. Luffy seemed shocked that being allowed to bath and doing water sports like surfing were not the same thing to the surgeon.

Some innocent surfboards were lost that day when Ace got wind of what had happened and the brat was chewed out by both his brothers. It was the first time anyone had seen the three of them argue and both older brothers ganging up on their younger one, though they blamed each other as well for being careless when this was apparently something that was very much foreseeable.

Straw Hat however didn't seem to be repentant at all, after all, Law had said he could bath again! When the older two stopped arguing with him he turned to Namur, waved cheerfully and asked him to teach him again when the surgeon would finally agree that swimming was also alright again. Despite all the trouble and Ace's ire he couldn't find it in himself to dislike the brat, nor to decline.

Everyone halted their breath then, when both Ace and Sabo turned to him then. However, instead of a fight or shouting Ace bowed and thanked him for taking care of their brother. Sabo only reminded him to not repeat it while Luffy was still injured. It was clear that both brothers deemed him being dragged of sometime soon again inevitable.

… …

"Ace isn't spending more time with his division?" Luffy questioned a while later, as they were all sprawled out on the deck again watching the sun set. Ace's division was still busy with restocking and other people were still at work as well.

"If I do, you'll find some sort of trouble again." Ace grabbed him in a headlock.

"Shishishi, will you stop worrying once the stupid wound is healed?" Luffy didn't try to free himself.

"Never." Ace growled and roughly tousled his hair then pushed him to Sabo who wholeheartedly agreed with Ace.

"That means both of you have to get stronger as well then. Rayleigh said things will get a lot more difficult from now on." Luffy sounded extremely pleased with Rayleigh's prediction. "It'll be so much fun!"

"I told you so." Ace muttered as Sabo groaned, they'd really have to keep tabs on the Straw Hats once they set sails again. That and make sure Luffy was the strongest he could possibly be within those two years. There was only so much they as older brothers would be allowed to do. While spending time with him and cuddling was something Luffy wouldn't ever get tired off, coddling was forbidden and really, both understood that only too well. None of them would allow for anyone to coddle them either after all.

The only reason why Luffy at the moment wasn't actively looking for an adventure, besides their promise (that Sabo had just recently found out was extremely limited and had lots of loopholes), was his physical state. Luffy understood best of all what the limits of his body was at the moment. For all that he was reckless their little brother knew his own limits well. Thus he hadn't gone off to look at the island.

"So what did you do today, Ace?" Luffy asked curiously. He only knew his brother's division had been busy carrying things. "Did you restock the food storage?"

"That's one duty that they don't let me do often. Much less with you around. There's a reason why I don't have the key yet." Ace snorted.

"Will you get the key when we're gone?" Sabo inquired.

"No. The moment you two are gone I'll burn down the doors if they don't take them off." Ace promised.

"Doing that now wouldn't be a bad idea." Sabo advised. His stomach was growling again. Whitebeard had ordered his sons to get back to Paradise as soon as possible. Even the cooks were helping out so it would still take a while before dinner was ready.

"Let's find Marco then. He still owes me." Luffy commented.

"What?" Ace bellowed. "How did that happen?"

"Well first he tricked me, then he still can die and afterwards he threw me into the water." Luffy glowered. "He promised me food afterwards but I haven't really seen him since."

So Luffy had probably whined or annoyed Marco long enough for him to give in, though why the Phoenix hadn't already settled the 'debt' Ace didn't know. It was unlike Marco. And he could've sworn he'd seen him today as well, even though he was truly busy.

"Did you even look for him? He was around at breakfast and I've seen him fly around at midday." Sabo clearly remembered seeing the Phoenix around midday before he fell asleep.

Luffy shrugged. "I did try to find him this morning. Giant-ossan said the sleeping things worked wonders and I asked Torao for more. He wasn't there so I left them with ossan."

"So that's where you went. You owe Law quite a bit so don't annoy him too much." Ace cautioned.

"Don't worry, he doesn't mind. He only was mad when I woke him. If he would ever laugh I think he would laugh quite often when I'm around. He's usually in a good mood." Luffy reassured them. "He's similar to Namur like that."

Once again Ace was reminded why he trusted his brother when it came to other people. Few people realized that Namur wasn't nearly as gruff as he looked and if Luffy said Law was actually amused then there wasn't a reason to doubt him on that.

"Well if he owes you, we should look for him."

"I want him to make lots of meat for me!" Luffy drooled.

"He's not a cook." Sabo pointed out.

"Neither is the giant-ossan and yet his fish tasted delicious! If we don't find him let's go fish with him. We can fish and he can prepare the food again!" Ace shook his head. He'd prefer finding Marco. Watching him cook for his brother was something he didn't want to miss. Also he wasn't sure how his father would react to Luffy's _request_. He didn't know what could be more disturbing. The old man turning Luffy down or the old man indulging him.

Sabo on the other hand would find anything amusing, as long as it ended with his stomach full.

... ...

* * *

... ...

 **What's up next?** Uhm… right now I actually am a bit stumped. Some Whitebeard + Marco scene with Ace most likely, more preparations to go back to Paradise and maybe Hancock will make another appearance. Also please note the warnings ;)

 **Please let me know if you found any mistakes! (There shouldn't be too many since I had help with this chapter *_* )**


End file.
